


Just Me and You

by AzuraJae



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Aeon Child AU, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Big Sister Sherry, Canon Compliant, Claire is a very good friend, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Post-Lanshiang Bioterror Outbreaks, Post-Resident Evil 6, Post-Resident Evil: Vendetta, Time for Dad Leon and Mama Ada, Zombies, almost anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25732654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzuraJae/pseuds/AzuraJae
Summary: It was then that Leon noticed that there was a sealed envelope tucked near the baby’s head. He reached over and carefully plucked it, careful not to agitate the cooing baby inside. Leon knew better than to be looking through other people’s stuff but he hoped at least there would be an address or something on the envelope that would direct him in the right direction of returning this baby to it’s parent.But then he noticed on the envelope, a familiar red kiss mark. It gave him goosebumps.No. It couldn’t be.“He looks just like you.” It read.
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy & Claire Redfield, Leon S. Kennedy/Ada Wong, Sherry Birkin & Claire Redfield, Sherry Birkin & Leon S. Kennedy
Comments: 34
Kudos: 113





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this goddamn fic since forever. I've just been mulling over it and wondering if it's even worth it to post it because I feel like I don't have the literary prowess to be able to write effectively enough to tell this story, but ultimately, after a weeks of editing, decided to give it a go and just post it for peace of mind. Most of this fic has already been written, including the ending. So it's not really a matter of finishing the fic anymore, but I will be going through the chapters again for maintenance and to make sure it's up to palatable quality for those who choose to read this. 
> 
> So this is an alternate universe, but will try to stick to the canon as much as possible. It takes place after the events of Resident Evil 6 and the events of Vendetta will be altered to fit the arcs of this story, but events of Vendetta will have a very small role. Just wrote this fic to sate my sad Aeon heart. I don't think Leon and Ada will ever be 'official' official. this fic is sort of expanding at that idea, but throw in a kid into the mix.

Leon stared at the note with a dumb silence as the sounds of an gurgling, giggling infant echoed down the empty hallway. That seemed to encapsulate the entire scene in a comedic light, Leon could almost hear the laugh track.

He glanced down at the little basket that was in front of his doorstep. Agent Leon S. Kennedy wasn’t really sure what he expected when he heard the doorbell ring on the second day of his vacation. This vacation has been considerably peaceful and Leon hoped for once that it would stay that way this time. There was no one he was expecting to visit, so when the doorbell rang, Leon had felt rightfully on edge. He had carefully approached the door, hackles raised, but the last thing he expected was a real life human baby nestled in a picturesque basket, placed neatly on his welcome mat, waiting for him.

At first, Leon had assumed that some irresponsible parent had left their kid out in front of his hallway until he remembered that he lived in a very secured government protected building. Not many people in this building had kids, most lived in separate housing to accommodate for schooling and stuff like that. This was the most bachelor-esque pad in the entire complex. 

It was then that Leon noticed that there was a sealed envelope tucked near the baby’s head. He reached over and carefully plucked it, careful not to agitate the cooing baby inside. Leon knew better than to be looking through other people’s stuff but he hoped at least there would be an address or something on the envelope that would direct him in the right direction of returning this baby to it’s parent. 

But then he noticed on the envelope, a familiar red kiss mark. It gave him goosebumps.

_ No. It couldn’t be. _

Spurred on by this new development, Leon felt his heart drop as he turned over the letter in his hands. There was no address or nothing, just that damning red kiss mark. Gulping, Leon teared open the letter, his heart beating quicker by the second. In there, was a tiny note, written by handwriting he knew all too well, the stuff of his nightmares.

_ “He looks just like you.”  _ It read.

“Ada…” he murmured in disbelief, glancing down again at the baby and realizing that he was staring at an oddly familiar set of dark eyes. 

It was as if the entire world had come to a sudden stop. Time slowed as Leon locked eyes with the infant, a gushingly warm, but chilling feeling enveloping his very being. He breathed quietly, fearing that his breath may break the tension.

After a moment, the baby squeed and reached up at him with little stubby fingers, happy to see him.

“Uh...hello there.” Leon greeted the baby awkwardly, who seemed to laugh at his plight. He brought a hand to his face and rubbed it tiredly. 

_ There was no way. But was it? _

There  _ was  _ that one time. A long time ago, two years ago if he remembered correctly. Leon had spent a night with Ada he couldn’t remember too well. His mind had been lindened with booze and things were all fuzzy; it had been his day off after all and he had planned on getting drunk anyway. Leon remembered her suddenly appearing and cozying up to him. It had been like a dream, something his heart ached for, but knew that he could never have. After the miserable hangover the next day, Leon had been content to just leave that experience as a dream, but the bartender had told him that he had been with a fairly attractive dark-haired woman that night. Leon didn’t believe him at first, but..if that was true...the timeline matched up, that meant....

His thoughts were broken by the starting sobs of the baby, who had realized that he wasn’t being picked up.

“Oh, oh, right. Sorry.” Leon apologized, leaning over and picking up the basket. A new sense of responsibility had begun setting in as Leon had trouble catching up with the whole situation.

The baby sniffled and made a grab towards Leon’s shirt, tugging it frustratingly. With a deep breath, he stepped back inside his apartment with the basket in his arms, awkwardly closing the door behind him. 

Carefully, Leon set the baby basket on the couch, making sure it wouldn’t topple. While doing this, he snagged his hand on a small cloth bag that had been hanging off the side of the basket. Curiously, the man looked into it and saw that it was filled with the baby essentials: diapers, napkins, wipes, and even a small box of baby formula. The uneasiness only intensified, making Leon’s mouth dry as he put the entire narrative together in his head. He wasn’t sure quite yet, but he had a goddamn good idea what was happening.

The baby made a loud sharp sound, seeming incredibly frustrated with him, though he didn’t cry, which Leon found strange. Leon had been told by his parents that when he was a baby, he cried  _ all  _ the time. His limited experience with other babies confirmed this. This baby was almost politely quiet and seemed to only voice it’s frustrations by small yelps and whines, which was still quite loud.

“Right, I bet you want to be picked up.” Leon asked the baby, who stared blankly back, drooling a bit. “Okay then.” He put aside the little cloth bag for later.

Leon carefully reached over and picked up the baby and held it awkwardly in his hands. He wasn’t new to holding babies, he’s done it before...maybe once or twice. There was once a party held at the office and a couple of agents had brought their kids with them to play. There were several babies and under the insistence of his coworkers, Leon got to hold and play with some of them. Admittedly, not that much experience, but he was confident enough that he wouldn’t drop the little guy. At the time, he had felt sort of melancholic, realizing that he would probably never have a kid or family of his own, but  _ boy,  _ this was probably the last thing on his mind.

Now that he was being held, the baby seemed quite content and quieted down, which made Leon sigh in relief. He wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with this little guy if he started crying. 

“I need to call somebody.” the agent suddenly announced to no one in particular. Leon reached over and grabbed his phone that was lying on the coffee table, where he had been watching TV.

With one hand scrubbing through his contacts and the other holding the baby, Leon scanned his contacts, wondering who he should call. There weren’t many friends the agent felt comfortable asking about this sort of situation, especially if this was what he thinks is going on. There was no way he was going to let  _ anyone  _ at his work find about this. As he looked through his contacts, Leon realized that he really actually didn’t have a lot of close friends, just a lot of important contacts and acquaintances. But then he found a name that seemed to click in his head. 

Claire Redfield. 

If memory serves him right, Claire had been quite good at taking care of kids. Back in Raccoon City, Claire had been the primary caretaker of Sherry. Even now, Claire had basically unofficially become Sherry’s mom. That time at the airport, Leon remembered her caring for a kid then too. Yes, she would probably know what to do. She was more than qualified.

Not wasting any more time, he clicked the call button and waited a bit. It rang and rang, and then the weight of his decision dawned on him and Leon began wondering if calling Claire was a bad idea after all. Claire was probably busy with her organization and other things. Just as he was about to end the call, the call was picked up.

“Hello? Leon?” 

Leon paused for a moment, bewildered that the call went through, but he quickly regained his bearings. “Claire, sorry to call if you’re busy.” 

“No, it’s alright. Things have been pretty slow here, what’s up? You don’t normally call, is something wrong?” Claire has always been pretty sharp. 

Feeling antsy, Leon swallowed, taking a deep breath before he continued. “Uh...what would you do with um…” He glanced down at the baby in his arms, currently occupied with trying to chew on his fingers. “A baby?” 

A considerable silence followed as Leon heard Claire’s breath hitch in confusion to his question. Leon cursed himself, he probably could’ve made that question more clear. 

“Did you say...baby?” She finally asked.

“Yeah.”

“Like a _ human  _ baby?” 

“Yup.”

Another pause.

“Leon... where are you?” Claire sounded worried.

“At my place.” He answered honestly.

“Are you.... babysitting?” The last word sounded incredulous, a nervous chuckle mixed in.

“Well…” He glanced at the note with the kiss mark. “You  _ could  _ say that. I need help to uh, figure out how to take care of a baby. Any info you could-”

“Right. Stay right there, I’m coming over.” Claire interrupted suddenly. There was some shuffling on the other side of the phone. 

Leon felt himself jump at that statement. He wasn’t sure he  _ really  _ wanted Claire, or  _ anyone  _ to come over right now. “You don’t need to do that.”

“Don’t worry. Just sit tight, I’ll come over.”

And with that the call abruptly ended, leaving Leon staring blankly at his phone, gawking at Claire’s headstrong nature. He should have known, she was the little sister of that bonehead Chris after all. It didn’t take long for Leon to notice that his other hand was now sticky and wet with drool, the baby having taken to happily teething on Leon’s coarse fingers.

“Are they tasty?” He asked the baby, who only giggled. Leon sighed, giving the baby a wry smile as he plucked his fingers from the little guy’s mouth, wiping the drool on some tissues. “Sorry, I need those.” 

The baby seemed upset and made a grunting sound, his dark eyes growing watery. Leon winced, not wanting the boy to start crying. He wouldn’t know how to deal with it. Leon turned his attention to the cloth bag and rifled through, but there wasn’t anything useful there that might help pacify the little guy. It was then he noticed that there was a stuffed animal, a lion, in the corner of the basket the baby was in before. Good, a toy, maybe that would keep the boy busy. 

Leon grabbed the toy and put it in the baby’s arms, who seemed delighted to be reunited with it’s cotton friend. As Leon adjusted the grip on the baby, he continued to rummage through the basket to see if there was anything else that could help, but instead, the agent managed to uncover a folder from underneath the woolly cloth that blanketed the bottom of the basket. It was unlabeled, but was full of curious contents, carefully packed away in a protective seal.

Seeing as the baby was content for now, Leon awkwardly retrieved the file from underneath the blanket before returning the baby into the basket again. Thankfully, the baby didn’t seem to mind being put down and Leon decided to make use of this opportunity to take a look through this file. It would definitely have answers to the army of swarming questions in his head. There was an odd pressing feeling at the back of Leon’s mind, as he fumbled with the string holding the file close. Just a little voice buzzing around his head….

_ Could it be? _

One of the first things Leon found was a passport, sealed in a plastic Ziploc bag, tucked in one of the corners of the file. It was an American passport and Leon didn’t have to think too hard to guess that it probably belonged to this baby. He put it aside for now to turn his attention to the other papers in the file. A birth certificate caught Leon’s eye as he gingerly pulled out the very official looking document from the collection of papers. As his eyes glossed over the paper, it seemed to confirm his suspicions.

_ CERTIFICATION OF BIRTH _

_NAME_ _Leo Wong_ _  
__DATE OF BIRTH_ _January 11, 2014, 2:34pm_ _  
__COUNTRY OF BIRTH_ _United States_ __  
_FATHER_ _Leon Scott Kennedy_ _  
__MOTHER_ __Ada Wong

The words didn’t seem to register properly in Leon’s head at first. He was reading, but none of the information was entering his head. It was after the fourth reading that Leon realized that this wasn’t some strange elaborate practical joke and something  _ very  _ real. Most curious was that Ada had given the boy her ‘last name’ instead of his. It wasn’t like Leon really minded either way, he never was big on passing down the family name anyway, but it was the fact that Ada had left a pretty glaring trail of evidence leading back to her. It was strange though, the Ada he knew would never put herself on a birth certificate. Then again, ‘Ada Wong’ was probably not her real name, just one of the many aliases that she employed in her line of work. The thought made Leon a bit sad, but he shrugged it off. 

Even more strange was the name of this kid.

“ _ Leo  _ Wong?” Leon repeated out loud to himself, reading the name again. 

_ One _ letter away from his own name. It even had the same meaning. “Did you think this kind of name was  _ cute _ ?” He could almost hear Ada laughing somewhere. She definitely had a kick out of this.

Leon chuckled slightly, eyes flitting over at the baby who had fallen into a light doze, finally tired of playing. He clutched the little worn stuffed lion as he slept peacefully. As his brain finally caught up with the weight of reality, Leon ran a hand over his face.

So it was confirmed. Ada had been pregnant.

The confusion and awe was replaced by a bubble of frustration as more questions swirled around in his mind. 

_ Why hadn’t she told him? Why did she keep this to herself?  _

In his head, Leon began to try to piece together the whole story, but it was difficult. Try as he might, Leon had trouble imagining Ada during her pregnancy. All he knew of this troublesome woman was her taunting, smug smirk that dogged his very step. She always took the time for a banter here and there, maybe pointing a gun at each other once or a twice; it’s really a mixed bag with her. But Ada as a mother? That idea seemed so foreign, it was almost funny. 

Most of all, Leon was frustrated over the fact that he had not known at all, maybe a smidge of guilt and regret. Ada had gone through this all by herself. He would have gladly been by her side had she asked and given her all the help Ada needed, it was only right of him...but then again, that was likely the reason Ada decided ultimately to keep him in the dark and stay away. 

The fact that Ada had actually  _ gone through  _ with the pregnancy at all was totally out of left field.

Everything he knew about Ada said that she would have quietly terminated the pregnancy and then kept the information from him to protect them both, but against all reason, she had kept the little guy. Not only that, but Ada had even raised the kid for  _ a year  _ on her own. How she managed that while being an elite spy was something Leon didn’t think he would ever find out. It wasn’t really Leon’s decision to decide the fate of this baby back then, but he was still incredibly surprised at how it all turned out. 

None of the other documents were clues to why Ada had done this, but Leon suspected that she dropped the boy off because she couldn’t raise him anymore. Having a child in Ada’s situation seemed incredibly dangerous and even if she wanted to, Ada probably couldn’t have held onto the child for long. Honestly, Leon and many other agents in his line of work are in the same boat, not many of his fellow agents had the time or energy to be raising kids.

Leon felt a little weird knowing that Ada knew exactly where he lived. Not only that, but she had passed by and he didn’t even notice, though he should have guessed as much. It wasn’t like he could’ve caught up with her had he known. Ada could have been halfway across the world by the time Leon had opened that front door. 

“So you’re my son, huh?” Leon leaned back in the seat of the couch, scoffing lightly. “This is the last way I expected ever to have a family.”

When Leon was a younger and fresher lad, he had something to think about whether or not he would find someone special and get a chance to settle down. Having a family wasn’t really the top of his list and his parents weren’t in a rush to push him either. He had sort of just thought ‘maybe later’ and left the idea at that. Though when he had started going older, Leon realized that he just didn’t have the time to settle down, not to mention he probably didn’t have the best mental state to be caring for a kid. This is not counting the fact that his stupid heart seemed to be enamored with a enigmatic woman he can never be with. 

_ Ding dong.  _ The sound of his doorbell alarmed him, dragging him quickly out of his thoughts. 

“Leon?” Claire’s muffled voice called through. “Are you there?”

_ “That was quick.”  _ Leon thought to himself as he stood up to get the door. He glanced at the baby, seeing it was still asleep and decided it would be okay if he just left it there for a few seconds to get the door.

When Leon opened the door to his apartment, he had only expected a determined Claire to be standing there, but there was also a blonde young lady bouncing about behind her, a curious and excited look plastered on her face. Seeing this, Leon felt himself grow a few white hairs. That’s it, he's had enough surprises answering his doors today. 

“Hey Leon, we’re here!” Claire grinned kindly. “I wasn’t sure what was going on, so I brought reinforcements.” 

“Right…” Leon blinked slowly, eyes drawing to the woman behind Claire.. “Hey.... Sherry.”

“Hi Leon.” She responded brightly. There was a twinge of concern on her face, but Leon could tell she was happy to see him. “Claire told me that there was something up with you and she asked me to come along.”

“You’re not on assignment?” 

“I just wrapped a case up last week so I’ll be free for a couple weeks.” Sherry explained.

Claire began poking her head through the gap between Leon and the door frame. “Can we come in?” she asked, though before Leon could answer she squeezed her way through; Sherry close behind. 

Leon watched the two women enter his apartment in disbelief. When he regained his bearings he shook his head, miffed. “Come in.” He mumbled sarcastically, making a gesture with his hands. Under his breath, “ _ Women _ .” At least they had the decency to take off their shoes. 

Closing the door behind them, Leon followed the two as they entered his apartment. Their eyes were instantly drawn to the basket and Claire set down her bag near the couch as she softly crouched near the sleeping infant.

“So there really  _ is  _ a baby.” Claire gasped out loud in bewilderment. She looked up at Leon, still dazed by what she was seeing. “Honestly, I thought you had found a stray cat or something. But you have a  _ real  _ baby here.”

“He’s adorable.” commented Sherry, who was hovering nearby, careful not to make too much noise. 

Claire extended her hand to tuck in the blanket around the baby, making sure it was comfortable. Leon sighed in relief at this, he had called the right person after all. Frankly, Leon wasn’t sure if it had been a good idea to call Claire or not, but he was thankful that he did. He wasn’t mentally equipped to be dealing with a baby on his own right now.

“Where did this little guy come from?” The red haired woman whispered, keeping her voice low as not to wake him. “Is...is he yours?”

“Uh…” Leon’s eyes involuntarily darted to the documents at the table. Claire followed his gaze to the documents and looked at them questionably but didn’t make any motion to try to read them.l Instead she turned back to him, tilting her head slightly as she awaited an answer. “I guess he is.”

Although Leon could tell Claire was curious, she didn’t make any effort to push the backstory of the appearance of this infant any further, turning her attention back to the dozing baby. She still seemed to be processing the whole thing.

“His name is Leo by the way.” added Leon, without thinking.

Sherry let out a stifled choked laugh, which made Leon snap his head towards her. She raised her hand defensively, hiding her giggling mouth with her hands. “ _ Sorry!  _ Sorry, I didn’t think…It’s a cute name.” 

Claire quickly picked up where Sherry left off. “It’s one letter away from your name.” Claire chuckled softly, giving him a cheeky smile. “Leon and Leo, what a pair.”

The man frowned. Leon was  _ so  _ going to let Ada have it when he saw her again. 

“I’m guessing you weren’t the one to name him then.” commented Claire, noticing her expression. After a second, she finally stood up, facing him. “Anyways, whatcha got?”

“What?”

“Any baby food? Diapers? You know, the normal baby stuff?” She looked around the rather empty looking apartment.

“Just stuff in that bag.” He pointed towards the little cloth bag he had recovered earlier. 

Clare leaned over and grabbed it, looking through it briefly before nodding her head approvingly. “Not a bad start, but we need more.” She brought out her phone, looking deep in thought. “We need to head to the store, there’s a lot more stuff we need to buy.”

“I can look after Leo.” Sherry volunteered, sitting down next to the basket carefully, looking up at the two excitedly. “You two can take your time buying stuff.”

“Come on, Leon. Let’s go, I brought my car here.” Claire started walking towards the door, gesturing with her arm to get Leon to follow her. 

“Wait,  _ I’m  _ coming?” 

“Of course you are. You need to figure out what to buy.”

-~*~-

Leon and Claire spent the whole afternoon running around what felt like the entire city, buying everything in Claire’s very comprehensive baby care checklist. A crib, toys, food diapers, the whole shebang. The whole thing made Leon’s head spin, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to handle this himself without Claire’s help, it seemed so tough. Maybe he ought to give his own mother a call sometime, to thank her for growing through this craziness for him.

Eventually, they had meticulously gathered everything they needed. Before they had a chance to take a breather, Sherry had called Claire’s cell, sounding very panicked. They had rushed home, arms bundled with baby goodies. When Leon approached his apartment door, he heard the distinct crying of a baby. The crying herd had awoken some sort of innate primal instinct within him and he had sort of just sprinted over, as fast as he could.

“I’m sorry, he won’t stop crying!” Sherry seemed close to tears herself. She was doing her best, walking around with the baby, and gently rocking it, but nothing seemed to work.

Leon quickly approached Sherry, who offered him the crying child. As soon as the baby realized who was holding him, it immediately calmed down. Sniffing greatly, it reached up and grabbed Leon’s shirt again, tugging at it gratefully. Leon smiled, a peaceful feeling washing over as his son calmed down. Sherry had stared at him in amazement.

“He really is your son.” She awed.

With Leo pacified in Leon’s arms, it was Claire and Sherry who ended up unloading the rest of the stuff they had in the car to the apartment. Leon felt bad for not helping out, but they feared that if Leon put him down, that he would start crying again.

The rest of the day, Claire had strictly schooled Leon on how exactly he was supposed to care for his son. Changing diapers, making a feeding schedule, making the baby formula, how to play with him, the whole thing was a lot to take in. By the time the sun started going down, Leon had felt like he had gone through another outbreak, in fact, maybe this was a little worse. It was one thing to point a gun at a zombie and shoot, but it was a completely different thing to try to play a guessing game every few hours to try to figure out if the baby was hungry. How the hell did Ada do this alone?

Little baby Leo didn’t seem to like strangers much at first. He immediately started tearing up the moment he was being held by Claire or Sherry and began whimpering the moment Leon was out of sight. However, with some gentle coaxing from Leon, which he hoped wasn’t being recorded on film to be posted somewhere later, his son eventually began to warm up to the others. A special bond seemed to be forming between his Leo and Sherry. 

Sherry was definitely curious about where exactly Leo came from, but ultimately, Sherry seemed unusually excited about the whole thing. When he had been grabbing a drink from the kitchen, Leon overheard Sherry gushing to Claire about how she had  _ always  _ wanted a younger sibling and how excited she was to help take care of Leon. hearing that sort of ignited a melancholic feeling in Leon’s heart. Sherry didn’t really have a great life, with her parents at all and then the whole thing with the government and Simmons. Leon was honestly glad that Sherry was able to find this piece of normal in this situation.

It would be great, if Sherry dropped by often to play with his son, Leon decided.

They continued to spend the evening together until it was about dinnertime. It was sort of peaceful being like this, Leon realized how much he missed just genuine human interaction. 

“I have to go now, I still have some things to take care of before tomorrow.” Claire told Leon, checking her watch and standing up. “I’ll call to check in with you and Leo often.”

“Yeah me too, I still haven’t finished my report.” admitted Sherry, looking a bit sheepish. “But I’ll stop by tomorrow!” She said excitedly. Then a bright look graced her face. “I can bring my work here, so I can help babysit! If that’s okay with you, Leon…” Sherry looked at him expectedly.

“That’s no problem. Thanks.” Leon looked gratefully at the two. “Appreciate the help. A lot. Don’t know what I woulda done without it.”

Claire gave him a big warm smile while Sherry quipped a small ‘no problem’. The two soon left, finally leaving Leon alone again with the little infant, who was occupied with the shiny new toys they had gotten him. While slightly embarrassed over having Claire school him over things like this, he was eternally grateful for Claire and Sherry’s help. He’ll have to treat them later. 

“Alright, buddy.” Leon said to the baby, much more confident now. “Now, it’s just you and me.”

Leo laughed happily.

Leon had expected something to go horribly wrong once Claire and Sherry had left, but the night together along with his son was surprisingly peaceful. 

Leo didn’t cry that much, he drank his milk obediently and babbled to himself and his toys. It even gave Leon some time to settle down to watch some TV, something Leo was also very fascinated to stare at. Leon’s original schedule before the sudden baby drop had him drinking himself silly somewhere, but that feeling was totally gone now. Leon was content to just be relaxing close to his son. 

It was sort of awkward, it was like someone had sliced off a piece of life he thought was fantasy and injected it into his fairly hellish life. For those hours, Leon had forgotten completely about the dark dreary thoughts that dogged his very breath, the violent screams of the undead crying out for him to save them. They had been replaced by the soft feeling of this small child. While this mushy gushy feeling wouldn’t last forever, it had given Leon the strange peace that he had yearned for years for. 

“It’ll be a little lonely, just you and me.” He told him. “But I’ll do my best...as your dad.”

The word felt funny on his lips. The melancholy was so intense, Leon thought that he might start crying, but honestly he’s had enough of that in his lifetime. Instead he fondly, reached over to his son’s head and ruffled it gently. Leo giggled.

Night had finally fallen and it was time for bedtime. Leo had taken short naps throughout the day, but he seemed completely zonked by the time Leon was getting ready for bed. The poor little guy must have been tired. He had no idea what Leo had gone through with Ada before he got here. 

The thought of Ada sent painful pangs in Leon’s heart as he tucked Leo into his strapping new crib, now stationed in his room next to his bed.

As he sat near his bed, staring at the sleeping child, Leon’s thoughts drifted to Ada and the future. It was going to be difficult to try to juggle raising Leo and his government job at the same time. There would be times where Leon couldn’t be there for him and he dreaded that. It wasn’t like Leon could leave his job and run off to start a new life, he was too intimately tied with the government. He would never truly be allowed to go free anyway, he was a survivor of Raccoon City and one of the best agents. They would never let him go.

“I’m sorry.” Leon apologized quietly to the sleeping baby, thinking about the times he’ll have to break his little heart. 

If he was already feeling this awful, Leon wondered how Ada must feel. She must have really liked their son, considering that she had kept him and then raised him for that one year alone. Leon only had him for a day and by the end of it, Leon knew that he would go to the ends of this earth for this baby boy. Ada must feel the same way. It must have hurt her a lot to leave him here like this, but she trusted him. She trusted Leon to take care of him. 

The thought made Leon feel a sort of warm tingly feeling.  _ Ugh _ , he felt like a high school girl. Only Ada can make him feel like this.

There were so many questions Leon wished he could ask Ada. But even if he did ask them, Leon was pretty sure Ada would probably never answer them.

Instead, an image popped into Leon’s head, clear as day. Ada sitting by a window, holding the tiny infant in her arms, her gentle features staring down at the baby as she hugged it close; she was talking to it gently. The woman rocked their son in her arms before looking up at him, her dark hair billowing in the quiet breeze. She spoke, lips drawn in her signature smirk, but Leon couldn’t hear the words, but he knew exactly what Ada was saying.

‘ _ He looks just like you.’  _

In a way, that was all the answer Leon needed. He knew why now.

Leon smiled back at the Ada in his mind before she faded away to the fringes of fantasy and memory. There was a lot about Ada that Leon didn’t know yet, but now he felt like he could understand her a little better. That was enough.

That night, Leon had a weird dream while he curled on the bed, close to his son’s crib. He dreamed that he, Ada, and Leo lived in this fluffy warm house together. They had breakfast together, even played games. Ada was laughing, it was so unlike her. It felt so normal, and domestic, but so off putting. Even in his dream, Leon knew that this was all pretend, something he could never have.

But still, it was still so sweet, Leon woke up in tears.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter has been edited. I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter initially, so I hope you guys did too!

The little thing she and Leon had, it was...complicated.

Ada knew that she loved him, that wasn’t even debatable, but it was a romance that was never meant to be. They stood on two different sides of the story, destined to only walk the fragile line between. No matter how much they wished for it, no matter how much they tried to make it work, it just wouldn’t be possible without uprooting each other. But even so, Ada thought the thing they had was already enough. It was a bit lonely at times, but thought their quiet little moments on the battlefield was all she needed.

Despite this, Ada  _ still _ wandered into that little bar that one fateful evening to find her favorite little government agent. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure what was going on with her head that day; Ada must’ve  _ really  _ felt lonely that day. This wasn’t the first time the two had met outside their usual shtick during missions, but this was the first time they actually sat down properly, no gun pointing or life-threatening situations. Just a quiet and simple hangout at a local bar, though the poor agent was already pretty loopy by the time Ada came to sit next to him; Leon probably wouldn’t remember anything tomorrow. 

“Did I ever tell you how nice your legs look?” Leon drawled, he didn’t seem to think she was real.

“ _ Really?”  _ She replied in an exaggerated tone.

“You have no idea…” He mumbled, taking another sip of his drink.

It was honestly pretty amusing to see Leon drunk off his ass, jabbering on about his miserable life, peppering in comments about how much he liked her here and there. Leon was too much of a boy scout to ever say these things to her face sober, so it was honestly fun to hear his unfiltered thoughts. Ada humored him, staying by his side, playing along with slur of complaints and compliments. 

Even though most couples would have described their night, a horrible date night, Ada really enjoyed this calm moment with Leon. Well, as calm as hanging out with a terribly drunk man could be. As irrational as it was, Ada found herself wishing the night would never end. She really indulge herself that night.

She might have stayed too long. 

Ada found herself pregnant a few months later. But to be honest, she wasn’t even really that surprised. She already had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach the morning she left Leon dozing in his apartment. Ada could have taken the necessary steps to prevent it, but Ada just...didn’t. 

It was like Ada was waiting to see what would have happened if she didn’t. 

The woman had been troubled by such an annoying thought. Her instincts had told her to just terminate the pregnancy quietly and continue on in her life. There was no time or energy she could spare raising and caring for an infant in this line of work. It would be incredibly foolish to be tied down for several months for this.

But...

This baby... it would be hers...but it would be Leon’s too. 

They would be a bit of both her and Leon.

Sour thoughts reminded her how tragic her romance was. The idea of this child, it had given Ada such an annoying fluffy feeling, she thought she might throw up. Though then again, it could just be morning sickness? But it was this thought that convinced her to just keep the baby, against her better judgement, despite all the hardships she would face down the path. It was weird, how illogical and stupid she became when it came to Leon. Only Leon could make her feel this way.

At first, it was easy to continue spy work. Ada was pretty fit and healthy, morning sickness didn’t really bother her that much. It was pretty easy to hide too; no one was the wiser. Ada assumed that the organization would quickly find out what happened and speak up, but they didn’t. Perhaps they already had their suspicions, but made no comment about it.

It was the late stages of pregnancy, when her belly started getting a bit bigger, where things became much more difficult to manage. The extra weight in her stomach made it hard to move around as efficiently as she was used to. It wasn’t like she wasn’t capable, she was still the best in the business,, but getting shot at while being pregnant didn’t seem like such a good idea. Ada had tanked her fair share of bullets, but her baby could not.

When the work eventually grew too hard to manage, Ada had devised a plan for the final stretch of her pregnancy. The organization was strangely compliant with her desire to take a long ‘personal leave’ and let her be. It was suspicious, but Ada didn’t really care at the time. She left it on the back burner for her future self.

She moved to a small, humble, but very rural town in the middle of nowhere. No one here knew her name, it would be easy to slip in and out of life here without too much hassle. To the townsfolk here, she was just a single mother looking to start a new life. Blending in was easy, Ada was a pretty masterful actor after all, but she had trouble getting used to how genuine the people in this town were. Her neighbors were eager to help out for nothing in return; just doing good for the sheer sake of it. Leon was the same way. It made Ada miss him. 

When the ninth month finally rolled around, their little boy, the little piece of Leon she had with her, finally entered the world.

Labor had been a bit difficult alone. Thankfully, the town had a small clinic that was able to tend to her needs. Giving birth alone was a little too much for her, Ada had been so delirious with pain that she wanted desperately to call Leon. She wanted nothing more than to give that goody two shoes a call and see his frazzled reaction when he got there, but Ada regained enough lucidity to stop herself from doing such a thing. She still humored herself with the thoughts though. 

Birth went well, she didn’t really remember that much honestly. The baby was healthy; that’s all that mattered to Ada.

While she had thoughts about names during the pregnancy and birth, Ada didn’t really come up with anything that stuck. She personally had used so many different names in her career that having a name seemed to have lost all meaning to her. There were so many different characters she had created and played for her work, none of it seemed right to offer up for her child. 

But there was one name that meant a lot to her.

She had gotten the idea when she set her tired eyes on the tiny bawling infant.

Sure, the baby was still a wrinkly pink thing at the moment, but somehow, Ada could just  _ sense _ the ‘Leon’ in the baby. It might be a bit much to name the baby Leon though, so she picked the next best thing: Leo.

She smirked. Leon would certainly find it funny later.

With her line of work, it was easy to fabricate all the documents to make them all flashy and official, but in a way that Leo couldn’t be traced back to her specifically. When she had been filling out the needed paperwork, it had occurred to her that Leo needed a last name. It would have been a good idea to give Leo the last name ‘Kennedy’, his father’s name, but instead she put her ‘last name’, the one Leon knew her as. 

It might be a bad idea, one might come back and bite her in the ass, but it was comforting to her.

She wasn’t going to be part of Leo’s life all that much. Ada just wanted a piece of her to stay with her son, even if it’s a name that didn’t even belong to her. 

For that one year, raising Leo alone, life was idyllic. Living in that sleepy, quiet town, raising a newborn baby. It was so peaceful, so unlike the harsh hellish chaos she had lived throughout her entire life. Ada didn’t remember much about her mother, Ada hadn’t even seen her since she was a child, but Ada wondered if her mother had felt the same way back when Ada was a baby. 

But this life was too suffocating. Ada was never meant for this domestic life. Not only that, but the rumblings of the organization and agitated clients looking for her meant that a timer was ticking.

It wouldn’t be long until she had to do what she would have to do eventually.

While it may give Leon a bit of a shock at first, he would take perfect care of Leo. Ada was greatly assured by this fact; Leon’s gentle and kind soul would make sure their son got the best he could over. Even so, Ada found herself getting increasingly depressed as the days ticked. Her time with her son, the one she had grown so incredibly fond of, was numbered. Interacting with the boy was a little awkward at first, but it felt so natural that Ada almost wished that she could stay like this forever. But that was just another dream she could never have.

Spite of all the gushy mixed feelings, Ada was honestly happy to have Leo, even though in the end, she and her son could never be together. It ironically mirrored her relationship with Leon. How tragic. Ada had bitterly wondered if it was a curse. 

Time ticked by and the day finally came. The opportunity came up, the perfect day to drop off Leo at Leon’s apartment, where he would stay there for good. She had to meet up with the organization that very same day, she couldn’t dawdle. 

It was late in the morning, Leon would just be waking up from his sleep. Ada had dropped quietly into the balcony of the hallway Leon’s apartment was nestled at, holding the little basket holding her little bundle of joy. She had waited a moment in front of the door, wondering if she should just knock and wait for Leon to answer, but she thought against it. She wouldn’t really know how to explain it to his face.

Ada looked over her son in the basket, who gurgled and cooed at her. Smiling fondly at her baby, Ada leaned over and gave her son a gentle kiss on his forehead. A sinking, mushy feeling began pooling in her heart as the seconds ticked by. The slow agonizing feeling of a mother having to say goodbye to her child too early.

“Take care of yourself, Leo.” She whispered quietly to the baby, voice shaking ever so slightly, holding him close. He reached up and scraped the side of her cheek with his soft fingers. 

Not wanting to make the goodbye any harder, Ada crouched, carefully putting the basket down on the welcome mat. Leo gave her a confused, blank look, not understanding why his mother was leaving him here, but he did not cry. Ada gave her son one final look before she rang the doorbell. After a moment, there were footsteps coming from inside and Ada backed away, leaping off the way she entered. She perched on a building nearby, just to make sure that Leon really did open that door. The moment that door swung open, Ada was gone, not sparing a single look back.

Looking back would’ve made her want to stay. 

Going back into work was easy. Her body still remembered all her neat little tricks and actions, being pregnant had not really hampered her all that much like she suspected. But it took a little longer for her heart to catch up. There were afternoon, sometimes days, when Ada felt herself pining for her son. She constantly thought of him and Leon, it made her sometimes frustratingly clumsy. 

Fighting her instincts and focusing on her assignments were rough, Ada had to constantly reassure herself that Leo was fine and Leon had things covered. This wasn’t like her at all. She didn’t use to worry like this. Ada eventually just chalked it up to whatever leftover maternal hormones she had during her pregnancy. Even so, she found her mind wandering often to the two boys she left behind.

Ada had to properly distance herself from them, just for a while. It would be too obvious if she kept tabs on them all the time. Her clients might sniff it out and they all would be in hot water, so she only allowed herself to check in on them once every few months. And really, all Ada needed to know is that they were both alive and well. That was good enough for her. Eventually, Ada finally managed to convince herself that things were fine and she eased herself back further into the swing of things. 

Before long, three years had passed since she left her baby on Leon’s doorsteps. 

Enough time had passed that Ada finally felt comfortable with the idea of visiting them. Leo would be about four years old now, probably already learned how to speak already. Of course, he was born of two very intelligent people after all. Ada wondered how much he has changed from the small pink ornery thing she had held in her arms so long ago. 

Taking the opportunity of the gap between her assignments, Ada returned back to the United States to finally pay her boys a little visit. When she arrived, Ada found out that Leon was regrettably not home at the moment, having been deployed for assignment a week earlier at an undisclosed location. It was a little disappointing to know that she wouldn’t be able to see Leon this time, but there would be other opportunities in the future. There always was. She’ll just check in with little Leo for now.

Leo was currently staying with one of his favorite people, Sherry. The young DSO agent had become Leon’s go-to babysitter whenever he was on assignment. Sherry wasn’t on the field so much anymore, having been smittened with the idea of becoming a desk agent and mission handler; it was something Sherry found she found she was much better at. This meant that Sherry was often home and could organize her time to fit Leon’s dodgy agent schedule. And whenever Sherry was busy, Leo would get hosted by that Redfield girl instead. Ada had to hand it to Leon for having such helpful friends. 

At the moment, Wesker’s son was visiting a ‘Jake’ she believed. The two seemed to be getting much closer together, it wouldn’t be long before the kid stayed for good.

_ “How cute.”  _ Ada had thought to herself as she spied on them from afar, watching with mild curiosity.  _ “I almost feel jealous.” _

Ada watched the household for a couple days, observing her son from a distance. She needed to find the right time to approach. Ada didn’t really want to be caught by either Sherry or Jake during such a pivotal meeting between her and her son. 

Sometime during the week, Ada finally seized an opportunity to approach the household. The Wesker kid was off doing something and wouldn’t be back until later. Sherry was doing work in the other room while Leo was sitting in the living room, watching TV and playing with a boatload of superhero figurines. Sherry seemed to be in a rather intense phone call and wouldn’t notice someone slipping through the balcony window. 

Ada slipped through the open balcony door of the apartment, which had been left open to let the cool breeze come in. 

At the sound of footsteps, Leo curiously turned his head, pausing his playtime to look at the strange, mysterious woman who had entered the room. The moment their eyes locked, Ada found herself smiling. 

It was really different seeing Leo up close again. Watching him from afar was nice and all, but up close she could really see his features. Leo’s features were so much more prominent now. Regrettably, it seemed that Leo really did look more like her than he did Leon, with short silky black hair and dark eyes. Even though he didn’t resemble his father in appearance, he had the same sort of soft look Leon had when he was younger. 

“Hello there, Leo.” Ada said to him, crouching down to greet him.

Leo blinked for a moment, bewildered, eyes growing wide as he recognized who she was. “Mommy?” He gasped.

For a moment, Ada was stunned. There was this warm tingly feeling as the realization that Leo had remembered her set in. She couldn’t speak, her voice caught in her throat as she stared down at the little human. It was strange how one word seemed to completely melt her heart. Finally, she managed to speak up, her voice wavering slightly.

“It’s... been a while.”

Leo reached over to her, grabbing her in his small embrace, hugging her tight. “I missed you, mommy.”

“I missed you too.” she whispered, taking the child in her arms and hugging him close as she could. In that moment, Ada thought about all the tension and stress she felt over the years, thinking of the son and man she could never be with. All those emotions just came crashing down, Ada had trouble trying to compose herself. She was never one to cry about sentimental things, but this really pushed her limits. 

The two stayed that way for a while, soaking each other's presence for as long as possible. Eventually, Ada finally let go. She could tell that Leo was crying a bit. She wanted to cry too, but she kept it together, instead letting a grin grace her lips.

“How is daddy?” Ada asked, trying to lighten the situation. It felt funny to say that last part, but it was easiest for Leo to understand.

“Busy.” Leo responded. Then with the utmost seriousness, “He’s a superhero.”

“A  _ superhero _ ?” Ada couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.

Leo nodded earnestly. “Auntie Claire and Sherry say so. He fights bad guys.” Then he thought for a moment. “Mommy, are  _ you _ a superhero too?”

“Why do you say that?” 

“Daddy says you fight bad guys too.” Leo explained. “That’s why you’re busy.”

Ada didn’t think Leo would understand the intricacies of being a spy and a government agent, but maybe in due time, he would understand. 

“I’m a...special superhero.” She finally said, feeling that was the easiest answer to his question. Her dealings are often considered criminal, but she always took assignments that aligned with her morals, whatever little she had left of them anyway. She wished she had something better to tell her son though. 

“Wow.” Leo seemed incredibly impressed. Then he gave her a very excited look, still clutching the small superhero figurine in his hand. “Can  _ I _ be a superhero too?”

“ _ Oh _ , I don’t know. You’ll have to ask daddy.” laughed Ada, trying to imagine Leon’s face if he had heard that question.

“Oh, okay.” Leo considered the advice very seriously, as seriously as a four year old could anyway.

Ada chuckled lightly, picking up one of the superhero toys to inspect it. Leo continued to babble on about his favorite characters, but how none of them could top his ‘superhero daddy’. Ada listened, getting insight to the colorful innocent world her son lived. It was very strange to think how different her childhood had been compared to Leo. She couldn’t imagine putting Leo through the same experiences she did, but the comparison made her sort of proud, like she had broken the curse. 

It was so comfortable here, Ada wished she could stay longer, but she knew that Sherry wouldn’t be on that phone forever. She would be in for some trouble if that Jake kid came back before she left. Time was unfortunately ticking.

“Leo, I have a _ very _ special mission for you.”

“Special mission?” parroted Leo, growing excited.

“This is a  _ very  _ secret message for daddy.” Ada said in an exaggerated tone, smirking to herself. “Give it to him when he comes home, okay?’

“Give to Daddy?” He titled his head, both in awe and confusion.

“That’s right.”

With the utmost seriousness a four year old could muster, he carefully took the envelope in her hand as if it was made of the most precious gold in all of the world. He saluted and grinned at her. “Okay!”

“Good boy.” Ada reached over and rubbed his head with a gloved hand. He giggled softly. 

Ada cupped his cheek as her smile faltered for a moment. Leo seemed to sense that something was wrong and frowned, clutching the envelope in his hands. 

“Mommy?” His eyes watered slightly.

“Mommy... has to go now, okay?” Ada finally said.

Leo’s face immediately fell. “You have to go?”

“I’m sorry.” 

“O-okay…” Leo looked like he was going to cry, but he kept it together. “Are you going to come back?”

“One day.” She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. “Take care of yourself and daddy, Leo, okay? I..love you.”

She opened her arms and the boy stood up and leaned into her. This hug was short and sweet, it was hard to let go. Ada gave her son a small kiss on the head and stood up, making her way to the open balcony door that she had sneakily snuck through earlier. Just as she was taking a step through the balcony, there was a rush of frantic footsteps coming from her right. Ada turned to see that Sherry had finally gotten off her call.

“Who’s there?” Sherry called out. In her hand was a pistol, phone still in her other hand. She pointed it in the direction of Ada, but her aim faltered when she realized who it was. “...Ada Wong?” she stammered.

Ada gave her a smug smile. “Can’t stay, gotta fly.”

“Wait!” Sherry called out as Ada flung herself from the balcony.

Using her grappling hook, Ada swung away to a nearby building perching on one of the outer decorations, turning to look back at the apartment she left behind. Leo had his face pressed up against the glass, excited to see her in actions. Ada gave him a little wave before swinging away again. 

She wondered what Leon was going to think when Sherry told him about this later. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter sort of made me a little sad to write. I took some inspiration from Kara and Alice's relationship from Detroit: Become Human, using Kara's motherly nature as a reference for Ada's motherly side. I think Ada has trouble admitting to people that she loves them, I don't think she's ever said it to Leon, but it's a little different when you're saying it to your child. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, see you in the next one!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of fun with this chapter, I think this is my favorite chapter in this whole story. Probably one of the happiest of the chapters. Oh, I forgot to mention, this story is a bit like an anthology. I won't be going too in-depth into the intricacies of Leo's growth and will be doing some time skipping to further the plot a bit. I may make a collection/series for this story for oneshots that take place between the margins of this story.
> 
> Without further ado, please enjoy!

“Dad?” 

It was fairly late in the evening, the start of the weekend. Leon was sitting down on the couch on this quiet evening, having a couple beers; having the night to himself. Leo had gone to bed a few hours ago, he thought anyway. It didn’t seem to be the case because a young boy had wandered into the hallway, clutching his favorite old lion toy and staring at his father from the darkness of the hallway. 

“What’s up, kiddo?” Leon asked his son, sitting up and putting the can of beer he was drinking aside.. “Can’t sleep?”

Leo shook his head in response, looking down. His face looked quite sad, which was worrying. Leon’s face softened and he patted the space next to him on the couch, gesturing for Leo to come join in. Upon seeing this, Leo brightened up somewhat, running up to his father to sit next to him. Leon leaned back on the couch as Leo settled in comfortably next to him, leaning against his father. 

“Whatcha watching?” Leo looked at the screen. It looked like a random documentary on animals or something.

“Whatever’s on.” shrugged Leon. Honestly, Leon wasn’t really the one for this type of media, but it busied his mind all the same, whether it was sports, some action movie, or animal documentaries. 

The two sat for a moment, watching and listening to the narrator describe the way of life of some random animals. It was quite peaceful, it kind of reminded Leon of the first time Leo arrived in his life. He had spent the last parts of that day watching TV with his son beside him too. How nostalgic.

When there was a lull in the documentary, Leon turned to look at his son, who still looked a bit uneasy. 

“What’s keeping you awake, buddy?” Leon pressed. “You got a big day ahead of you tomorrow.”

“I just…” Leo started, his voice trailed off. He hugged his stuffed toy tight. “I was thinking about...mom…”

Leon felt himself stiffen, realizing what Leo had been thinking about. Realizing that this might be a rather serious conversation, he picked up the remote to lower the volume of the television, so they could talk properly. He swallowed dryly, nervous about what his son may say next.

“What about her?” 

“Well, it’s just...where is Mom?” Leo finally managed to ask, his face saddened.

 _Oh boy._ Leon thought as he sat up straighter. _It’s going to be one of those talks._

Frankly, Leon was surprised it took _this_ long for Leo to start getting curious about his mother. This kind of conversation had always been inevitable, but Leo had always been incredibly patient when it came to the topic of his absent mother. While Leo acted like it never bothered him whether or not she was around, Ada’s absence in Leo’s life was still prominent. 

Ada had popped in their lives in the past, apparently she liked to poke in whenever he wasn’t around to visit Leo. The first time, she had dropped off a cheeky letter detailing how happy she was to see Leo again, bundled along with a bank check with a handsome sum of money. Afterwards, visits like that were just commonplace. Leon himself had found himself running into Ada during missions, but the circumstances were often too chaotic to really sit down and have a heart to heart talk about things. Just a ‘He’s fine.’ and that was it.

Leon must have been quiet for a long time because Leo spoke up again. “...Nevermind, it’s okay.”

Hearing that from his son broke Leon’s heart. “It’s not okay.” He told his son softly. “It’s just..things are really complicated.” He rubbed a hand over his face, racking his head for better answers. “It’s honestly...about time you know more about your mother.”

Leo instantly beamed, jumping up in his seat and looked at his father with an excited look. _“Really?”_

“Yeah, you’re old enough to know a bit.” answered Leon, amused by his son’s excitement. “Let’s see, whaddya want to know?”

“Where is she? Does she have a really cool job like you?”

Leon thought for a moment and nodded. “You can say that. Though it’s a little more different than my job.”

“Different? How?” Leo’s eyes were practically sparkling at this point. Perhaps this conversation had been long overdue. 

“Easy answer? She’s a spy.” Leon decided to keep the mercenary bit for later, maybe when Leo was a bit older.

“A _spy?_ ” Leo didn’t sound like he believed him. “Like James Bond? With lasers and secret gadgets?”

Hearing that description of Ada made Leon chuckle; it just seemed sort of ridiculous. Ada _did_ share _some_ features with those fictional Hollywood characters, but she was still far from that image. Imagining Ada as suave James Bond-esque spy was pretty funny, though he did find himself feeling like those women swept off their feet by him when it came to Ada.

“It’s a lot more complicated than that, but sure.” 

Leo still looked a bit incredulous, but he still seemed pretty enamored with the idea that his mom was a cool spy. “How did you meet mom then?”

“Oh uh,” Leon brought a hand to his chin. It didn’t really seem like a good idea yet to be divulging the whole Raccoon City incident yet, Leo was still a bit too young. “Back when I was still a police officer, I met her on my first day.” That wasn’t a lie, but not the whole truth either.

“So she fights and stuff like you?”

“Oh yeah. She’s even stronger than me.”

“ _Stronger than you?_ But you’re like the bestest secret agent right?” 

“Ada is -” Leon cut himself off, realizing that he had said her name. “...There’s a reason why you haven’t heard of her. She’s the best in the business.” Leon didn’t really know if that was true, but he was certain that the name ‘Ada Wong’ was a name to be feared in the dark world she lived in.

“ _Cool._ ” Leo couldn’t help hide the growing smile on his face. “I always knew mom was _something_ cool. I can’t wait to tell-”

“You can’t tell anyone, Leo.” interrupted Leon. 

His son turned to look at him, a puzzled look on his face. “Why not?”

“Your mom’s line of work is dangerous. If anyone finds out, we’d be in hot water.” 

“O-oh..” Leo looked a little sad. “Is that why you guys aren’t…” 

Leon was overcome with a weird feeling as he heard that comment, involuntarily making a face. Leo quickly picked up that his father had grown upset from this statement and sheepishly turned his head away to blankly look at the documentary still playing. Leon was still bothered by it sometimes, with the present condition of his and Ada’s relationship. Perhaps, there might be a universe where things between them were less complicated. There wasn’t much use thinking about it anyway.

Sighing, Leon gave his son a pat on the shoulder to reassure him. “Don’t worry about it, kiddo. Your mom and I still love you, no matter what. Don’t forget that.”

“I _know_ .” Leo responded, a little bit of an exasperated tone hidden in there somewhere. “You tell me that _all_ the time.”

“Good, make sure you remember it.” Leon reached over, ruffling his son’s dark hair. 

Little by little, Leon noticed how similar Leo looked to Ada. While Ada’s initial note had seemed to imply that the little guy would end up looking like him, it seemed the opposite was actually true. He had the same mischievous dark eyes and smile she had, soft and silky with smooth hair and skin. At most, the only thing that he shared with his son was perhaps hairstyle? Though maybe it was a time for he himself to get a haircut, it’s been getting a little too long.

“Well anyways, time for bed.” Leon finally announced, glancing at the clock to check the time.. “Big day tomorrow.” 

“Okay, dad.” replied Leo obediently, getting off the couch. He paused for a moment, before turning around and giving Leon a hug.

Now in a much better mood, Leo turned to walk out of the living room back to his bedroom down the hall. Before he made it very far, he stopped and turned to look at Leon again “Dad, do you think Mom might come to my birthday tomorrow?”

“I…” Leon stammered for a moment. “I don’t know, buddy.”

Leo looked a bit sad, but he perked up after a second. “I don’t really mind if Mom doesn’t come. I’ll get a card from her anyway.”

-~*~-

Today was an incredibly special day for the Kennedy family. It was Leo’s tenth birthday, he was a _whole_ year older. Leon was never a big birthday party person, it wasn’t really a thing for him growing up, but it seemed entirely the opposite for Leo. He _loved_ birthday parties and the chaos that came with it. So it was only right for Leon to set up the best birthday he could for his son every year. He might miss some exciting moments of his son’s life due to government assignments, but one thing he always desperately tried to maintain is to _always_ have time for Leo’s birthday.

The birthday was hosted at their apartment. Leo had invited all of his friends from school and more. Leon also invited some of his close friends, like Claire and Sherry, to come to the party. Unfortunately, Sherry was unable to come since she was currently tasked with a very important assignment. But she had already handed Leo’s birthday gift to Leon to be given to him _weeks_ beforehand. There were some other people here too, those he had befriended over the years, like his handler Hunnigan, Helena, and many others.

“I can’t believe it’s been nine years.” Claire exclaimed, sipping her juice. She looked over at Leo, who was currently shouting in excitement with his friends. “The little guy’s all grown up.”

“Kids tend to do that.” Leon answered lamely. “And it’s 20 years too early to say that.”

“Who would have thought it.” A man said, giving Leon a harsh pat on the back. It was Chris Redfield, who came to visit this time around. “Didn’t really peg you as a father, Leon.”

“You too.” Leon replied, eyeing him carefully and Chris just grinned. “Better watch yours, they’re dangerous as any B.O.W.”

“ _Only_ because they hang out with your kid.”

“Oh stop it you two, you guys are always like this.” interjected Claire, shaking her head dismissively. Then she gave her brother a playful smack with the back of her hand, a cheeky grin on her face. “But I will say, Chris, your little monsters are _such_ a handful. Leo didn’t give me _half_ as much trouble as they do.”

Chris gave Claire an exaggerated look of a shock as she laughed. “They’re a little rowdy, but it’s just the Redfield lineage talking. Warrior’s blood.”

“ _Some_ lineage.” Helena shook her head, having seen the munchkins in action before. Beside her, Hunnigan laughed under her breath, holding a cup of juice to hide her smile.

“Leo is a very sweet kid.” commented Rebecca. “He’s always so polite. You raised him well, Leon.”

“It wasn’t easy, but thanks.” Leon responded. “I woulda never done it without help.” He glanced at Claire, who gave him a little wink.

There was a giant crash in the living room, startling the adults. Leon quickly entered back into the living room to see what that sound was. Leo was standing over some flipped over chairs, a bowl of popcorn on the ground, having been spilled. Leon had been pretty lenient with letting the kids do whatever they wanted, but this...

“ _Jesus_ , guys…” gawked Leon. “It looks like a tornado just came through here and wrecked the place…”

“Sorry, dad.” Leo apologized, hanging his head, though he was still giggling.

Claire, who had followed in after him, put her hand on her hips upon seeing the most, looking sternly at Leo and the other kids. “You guys better clean this up. Leon’s too old to be bending over to pick things up off the ground all the time.”

“Hey, I’m still pretty fit.” quipped Leon, a little offended. Claire snickered.

“Okay, Aunt Claire.” He had a grin on his face, glancing at his father, checking his reaction to the comment. He looked so much like Ada with that face.

The party went on all day, but like all things, it had to end eventually. Some of the kids stayed to help clean things up, under the insistence of their parents or caretakers, but once evening rolled around, many of the guests had already returned home. Originally, Chris was going to drive Claire home, but he had taken his brood home earlier since Claire wanted to stay a bit longer to help clean up. 

“What a day!” exclaimed Claire, stretching as she scooped up some stray pieces of food on the ground. “Another great birthday this year, huh, Leon?”

“Chaotic as always.”

Claire chucked. “Well anyways, I’ve gotta go. I have someone waiting for me at home.” She handed Leon the dustpan and broom she had been using. “I’m sure you and Leo can handle the rest.”

“Thanks for helping out, you didn’t have to.” thanked Leon, taking the cleaning supplies from her.

“I wanted to help out. It’s no big deal.” Claire had just picked up her purse, when Leon suddenly reached over and touched her shoulder. Confused, she turned to look at him.

“Claire I…” Leon started, growing a little shy. “Thank you for all these years, helping me with Leo and stuff. You’ve been there for him on days I wasn’t….” He paused for a moment. “I don’t know...what I would have done without your help.”

“Growing sappy, Leon? _You_?” teased Claire.

“Must be old age.” Leon sniffed thoughtfully, bringing his hand up to rub his chin. “I must be growing sentimental.”

The red-haired woman laughed in response. “You don’t need to thank me, Leon. He’s like a son to me, I’ll help out when I can.” Then in a quieter voice. “It’s such a shame his real mom isn’t around to see him grow up.”

“Yeah.” said Leon softly.

There was an awkward silence that followed as the two stood idly.

Claire, sensing that the atmosphere grew a little somber, touched Leon’s shoulder softly to break the tension before turning around to make her way to the living room, where Leo was currently sweeping things up. 

“I’ll see you later, Leon.” she told him over her shoulder. “Leo, I’m leaving!”

Leon watched his son scurry over to where Claire was waiting with open arms. Leo gave her a strong hug. “Goodbye, Auntie.”

With that, Claire turned around to leave the apartment, giving one final wave to the two boys before continuing on her way. Leo’s gaze lingered on the door frame for a moment before he finally turned around and continued what he was doing. Leon noticed this and there was this weird bubbly feeling in Leon’s heart as he watched that small interaction. 

Leon wondered, in another world, maybe it would have been better for Claire to be mom Leo needed. Surprised by this thought, Leon quickly shook it out of this head and continued on cleaning. Life was a little hard, just the two of them, and they had to depend on people like Claire and Sherry a lot, but it was okay. It was enough.

In the new few moments, most of the mess had already been cleaned up, all placed in garbage bags that would be thrown out the following morning. Exhausted by the day’s activities, the two collapsed on the couch, idly watching some cartoon shows that Leo had been looking forward to watching. 

“Have fun at the party, sport?” asked Leon.

“It was a _lot_ of fun _and_ I got a _ton_ of new games!” Leo said with a grin. “I can’t _wait_ to try them out!”

“Be sure to finish your homework before you do.”

Leo froze, grimacing. “Ugh...okay.”

Leon gave his son a small chuckle. He wasn’t very fond of doing his paperwork and reports either, he was glad that Hunnigan took care of most of them for him.

The two had just been relaxing when there was an odd sound outside that sort of woke Leon’s senses.

Leon had slowly stood up, looking at the door. Leo instantly sensed that something was wrong and stood up as well, though much more meekly than his father, hands close to his chest as he peeked behind his father to see what he was looking at. 

“Dad?” Leo squeaked nervously.

There was another odd sound and Leon gestured for his son to be quiet. As per procedure, Leo quickly ducked behind the couch and hid. They had always practiced for intruders like this. Being a government agent has its dangers, so one of the first things Leon had taught his son was what to do when there was an intruder. Thankfully, they didn’t really need to put this contingency plan into motion...but was today that day?

Carefully, Leon approached one of the dressers, pulling out a pistol from its hiding place, still eyeing the balcony. As the tension slowly built, Leon sneaked his way towards the balcony, keeping the pistol by his side as he peeled back the curtains to see what was making that noise. It was pretty dark, but Leon noticed a shadowy figure standing in the corner, crossing its arms. It almost looked...smug?

Somehow, the form seemed familiar.

His heart thumping, Leon suddenly jerked back the balcony door. “Who’s there!?” He shouted in his most commanding tone.

“That’s no way to treat a guest.” A silky voice broke the terse silence.

Stunned, Leon froze, unsure if what he was hearing was real. “... _Ada_? Is that you?”

“Who else?”

To punctuate that statement, an all too familiar dark-haired woman strolled past Leon, through the open balcony door, entering the room with her hands on her hips. She looked around, her dark hair gently bouncing to the movement. She looked so out of place in this dinky apartment.

“Did I come at a bad time?”

“... _Mom_?” Leo’s voice croaked. He peeked from where he had been hiding, eyes wide as he stared at the mysterious woman who had made her entrance. “You’re...my mom...right?

Seeing him, Ada’s expression almost immediately softened. She walked over, crouching to his eye level. “Long time no see, Leo.” Leo was frozen, only starting in response. He was inches away from his mother’s face, staring at her directly in the eyes, looking much like a cornered rabbit.

“Ada...what are you doing here?” Leon mumbled slowly, awkwardly standing by the open balcony, still gaping over what was happening that very moment.

She peeked at him from over her shoulder, her eyes glinting with intent. “Can’t I visit on my son’s birthday?”

“You never have had before.” responded Leon carefully, unsure of what he was supposed to be feeling. He thought for a moment, before reaching over and closing the balcony again. If this was really happening, he didn’t really want her to get up and leave at her whim, though Ada didn’t seem to care that he did.

“Maybe I want to this time.” Ada stood up, plopping herself on the very couch he and Leo had been lazing on earlier. She patted the spot next to her, looking at Leo. “What’s wrong? Come sit with me?”

As if someone had flicked a switch, Leo scrambled to his feet, quickly, but cautiously making his way to where his mother was sitting. His action came to a slow when he approached and meekly sat down next to her. Leon could see that he was practically jittering in excitement, like he had just laid his eyes on the fabled unicorn, but was restraining himself. It’s been a while since Leo had seen his mother, he wasn’t even sure when their last meeting was. All he could tell that it was a little overdue. Even though he was pretty wary of Ada’s sudden appearance, seeing his son so happy made Leon happy too. And he supposed that’s all that mattered.

“H-hi mom.” Leo stuttered, voice peaking in his excitement. “It's… really you right?”

Ada smiled kindly, lifting up a hand to pat the boy on the head. “Sorry, I couldn’t come sooner. Didn’t want to interrupt your little party, you looked like you were having lots of fun.”

“You were _watching me_?” Leo’s eyes were sparkling again.

“I _always_ keep an eye on you and your father.” Ada glanced at Leon, who was still awkwardly standing a bit aways, not having moved from his initial position. Upon meeting her eyes, Leon's face just slackened and he came over to sit in the chair nearby.

“Dad said you were a spy, is that true?” 

At this, Ada turned to look at Leo then to Leon in mild shock. It seems that she wasn’t expecting him to know this yet. Leon looked at her uncomfortably back, but Ada seemed to come over this after a while.

“Well yes, I am.” confirmed Ada, looking again at Leon. She had a mild look of surprise on her face. She didn’t seem to expect Leo to know this already.. “Did you tell anyone else?”

“No, Dad says it’s better if I didn’t.” 

“Yes, that’s true.” She nodded in agreement. “So how have you been?”

“Oh...uh, I’ve been great! I got good grades at school, but I don’t like homework that much...and I have _lotsa_ friends. I like playing video games, but dad always gets mad at me if I don’t do my homework. But today is my birthday, right, and I got a lot of presents today…” Leo stopped his monologue for a moment, looking curiously at his mother, suddenly looking _much_ more shy. “I got some _really_ cool presents... do you want to see them?” 

“Sure, bring them out.” Ada replied, incredibly amused.

In a flash, Leo was back on his feet, running towards his room where he had just put away his toys. Ada chuckled, watching him go, before turning her attention to Leon, sitting on the armchair, keeping a respectful distance. He was eyeing her carefully and was sitting a bit formally for someone inside his own home.

Ada tilted her head, giving him a certain look he knew all too well. “What’s wrong, Leon? Not happy to see me?”

“Just surprised.” He replied. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”

There was a string of silence that followed. There was the muffled sound of Leo fumbling with the boxes in the other room.

“You have a lot of questions.” The woman said, breaking the silence.

Leon chuckled, shaking his head. “You have _no_ idea.”

Even though such a long time has passed, Leon had never really sat down with Ada to discuss things about Leo. It never really came up during missions, they were too focused on surviving most of the time. Suddenly, here they were, in a perfect situation for Leon to ask those questions that he had he had buried so long ago. But somehow he felt stuck, unsure if he even wanted to ask those questions after all this time. It all didn’t seem to matter. 

“ _Hmm_?” Ada’s voice broke his thoughts.

“Why did you...” Leon was having trouble forming sentences. He just shook his head again. “Just _why_?”

Ada always had this pesky mischievous look on her face, exemplified by a rather annoying smug smile. It was her de facto poker face, hard to read; Leon found it as attractive as it was infuriating. But that look he was just so used to her having just melted away, leaving a much softer expression he rarely ever saw. It made Leon squeamish.

“Huh, I wish I knew myself.” Ada said, a distant look on her face. Then she turned to face Leon, a gentle smile on her face, a smile saved just for him. “But aren’t you glad he’s here?” Her voice was low and soft, it reminded Leon of the way his own mother had spoken to him when he was a child. So this was the motherly Ada that he and Leo missed out on.

Leon laughed. “You don’t even need me to answer that.”

Soft footsteps caused the two to look towards the hallway. Leo was shyly peeking around the corner, cheeks pink, apparently having been waiting for the two to finish their conversation before entering. It was obvious that he had been eavesdropping, but he had a bright look on his face. When Leo met their eyes, he shifted from feet to feet, looking terribly embarrassed.

“I..got the stuff I wanted to show Mom.”

Leo carefully wandered back into the room, arm full of things he wanted to show his mom. It occurred to both of the adults that he might be listening in, but he had a bright look on his face.

The next few hours were incredibly weird. It felt like they had slipped into another dimension, some kind of limbo they were never supposed to be in. Just the three of them, sitting together, acting so much...like a normal family. Though, there was still a certain awkwardness in the air between them, like they were all tip-toeing on eggshells. It seems that everyone, even the little Leo, knew that this dynamic was never going to last. 

But, it did feel nice for now.

“I don’t want to go to bed.” Leo protested, though he was blinking heavily. He had spent the last few hours into the night, talking to mother, making up all the time they had missed together. Even though he was drained from the party and the talk, he kept insisting that he didn’t want to go to sleep.

“Come on, little man.” encouraged Leon, pushing him gently onto his bed and tucking him in. 

“I’ll still be here when you wake up tomorrow.” added Ada. 

At this, Leon whirled his head towards Ada, just as surprised as Leo was. “You _will_?” 

“Just for the weekend. It was someone’s special day after all.” Ada gave Leo a little wink. At this, Leo only seemed to grow more excited, trying to sit up again.

After some gentle coaxing from both Ada and Leon, Leo finally got too tired and settled into bed. He leaned into his pillow, his eyes locked on his mother as he drifted away into sleep. 

“Best birthday ever…” he whispered..

Ada laughed. Leon did too.

-~*~-

The weekend Ada was with them was incredibly bizarre. Leon had felt so tantalized by Ada’s presence, he had given her the bed while he slept on the couch, even though Ada was okay sharing a bed together. It...felt too weird, he couldn’t sleep like that. It was even more disturbing to wake up to the smell of breakfast cooking; Ada had made a whole spread with Leo bouncing around her excitedly. Leon didn’t think Ada _knew_ how to cook.

It was so strange to try to function like a normal family when they haven't really. 

Afterwards, they had gone to the park and then the arcade.While both he and Ada were a bit more cautious about the way they were acting in public, Leo had totally taken this fun occasion with a stride, making the most of his mother’s visit to hang out with her as much as possible. 

Leo was currently playing some games at the arcade, Leo and Ada watching. He was playing some shoot’em up, not a zombie shooter because he knew how much that unsettled his father, raving about how he was definitely going to have the highest score this time. Arcade shooters have sort of lost their meaning after the Raccoon City incident for Leon and Ada didn’t seem to really understand why Leo was having fun, but all that mattered was Leo’s echoing laughter in the room that day.

“This is nice.” Ada said quietly, her eyes glancing at Leon from the corner of her eyes.

“It is. Does it make you want to stay?” Leon already knew the answer, but it was worth a shot.

“Don’t push it, rookie."

Just as the party had ended a few days ago, so did Ada’s stay. They all sort of knew that they were all on borrowed time, but it didn’t make the moment any last sadder. On the last afternoon, they spent a quiet moment in the living room together, talking softly and watching some cartoons Leo picked out. Eventually, Ada stood up and it was clear to the boys that she was going to leave.

“Do you really have to go?” Leo looked up at his mom, upset.

“I’ll be back someday.” Ada told the young boy. 

“ _When_ will you be back?” 

“That’s a question I can’t answer.” answered Ada with a sad smile. “But we’ll see each other again.” She looked up at Leon who was standing behind him. “We always do.”

“Take care of yourself, Leo.” Ada told him softly, giving him a tight hug which he gladly gave back. She kissed him on the head.

As the young child was rubbing his eyes, trying not to cry, Ada stood up and leaned towards Leon. Unprepared, Leon only blinked dumbly as Ada planted a kiss on his lips. A quick peck, stolen in a second. It took a second for the action to register in Leon’s brain and his hand shot up to his lips before giving Ada an shocked, but exasperated look. He lifted his hand towards her, but Ada stepped back, out of his reach. 

“Ada….wait, a second...” Leon’s fuzzled brain tried to say.

How things never changed.

“Wish I could stay longer, cowboy, but I gotta run.” she announced, her signature smirk plastered on her face. She shot the grappling hook and jumped off without another word. Leo stepped out onto the balcony, watching her excitedly swing away. 

Upset by what just happened while he was off guard, Leon looked after her in mild irritation, cursing himself for not paying attention. At that moment, Leon’s phone suddenly rang, confusing the both of them. Leon brought it out, surprised to find that it started playing a pre-recorded message unprompted. It was Ada’s voice.

_“I’ve left Leo a little parting gift under his bed. See you down the road, Leon.”_

Leo’s eyes went wide and he sprinted to his bedroom, leaving Leon gaping once again as he stared at his phone. He heard his son cry out in excitement from his room a second later.

“ _Cool!_ A grappling hook!” Leo shouted excitedly. He burst out of his room, waving around _an actual real_ grappling hook, just like the one Ada had just used. It might even be the same brand and model.

 _“Oh no.”_ Leon thought, as he watched his son begin to aim it around the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One question you may be thinking: what? Chris has children!? Well, in this universe he does, but I purposely kept it vague since in all honestly, I don't know who the spouse would be. Writing it this way makes it so you can insert anyone you feel appropriate into the position (though it's probably not Wesker, lol). Another question would be, Claire has someone waiting for her at home? That's up for you to decide! Maybe I would like to go into more detail about these two in another story, since this story is about Leon, Ada, and their kid and not the Redfields.
> 
> A precursor to the next chapter, it may...not be so sweet. It might take a while for the next one to come out because damn, it's pretty difficult to write. Just soak in the good times for now. Thank you for reading this chapter, see you in the next one!
> 
> Edit: Small edit, I've aware that I've had the pleasure of having a very... "excited" and passionate individual commenting on this story, who seemed pretty emotional that I've somehow portrayed their favorite character in their subjective bad like and bringing dishonor on my family (or something). I've marked them as spam and deleted all their comments but one, just as a reference to future commenters who to watch out for. I'll be keeping an eye out and weeding out future comments. Don't worry, I'm not particularly offended or saddened by their words and I appreciate all the kind comments.
> 
> And sir/madam, not to worry, I wouldn't delete such grand pieces of contemporary artwork, having your comments being lost to time would be such a tragedy. I have safely archived them as screenshots so I can read your words every time I go to bed, it's a good laugh I'll tell you; it might even be worthy for Reddit. If you really must have dialogue to vent your criticism with me, just make an account and DM me? I understand a great artist like yourself would enjoy a more public outlet to vent your talent, but surely there must be a better place for this.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said that I was going to take a while longer to post the next chapter, but I was hit by a burst of both inspiration and motivation after receiving a delightful string of comments from a certain individual whose comments sadly don't exist on this fic anymore (had to delete them because they were getting too spammy). I ended up doing a lot of editing with this chapter, fleshing out a certain scene which resulted in me having to split this chapter into two chapters instead of having one. It helps with some pacing and I fleshed out the incoming plot points. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Something had changed in Ada when she went to that birthday party. Maybe it was because she actually stayed for a while this time, or maybe it’s because it had been a while since she’s seen her son. Regardless of what the reason was, Ada felt… content.

As she watched Leo act in his own daily life, Ada’s mind was drawn back to her own childhood, or what was left of it. There were no happy memories there, living in that war torn wasteland, it would be best if it all remained buried deep in the recesses of her mind. Ada only had a vague image of her mother, who had simply disappeared one day. She wasn’t sure if her mother had died, been killed, or just left; Ada didn’t really care at the time, all that mattered was her own survival. Now though...Ada sort of wished she did. Either way, she was glad that Leo didn’t have to go through the harsh conditions she had to.

Feeling content was a feeling Ada didn’t experience often. Doing spy and mercenary work meant that you always had to be in a constant state of awareness, you never know when someone was going to strike your open back. It was almost unnerving not having to look over your shoulder every second to see if that shadow behind you was _really_ watching you. Ada noticed that Leon seemed to suffer from a bit of this too; too much time on the field she supposed.

Ada noticed that she started spending more and more time at that dinky little apartment with an energetic brat and that silly rookie cop. Clients didn't make a fuss, neither did the organization, they were oddly compliant with her personal request. Ada had an inkling the group was planning something, but it wasn’t really her business.

Today was one of the extremely rare days where _Leo_ wasn’t home, and it was just her and Leon. Leo was still at school and would be coming home in a few hours, leaving Ada and Leon alone with their thoughts. They were seated in the living room, Ada taking the couch and Leon was on the armchair nearby.

After first, they politely chatted about random events, but eventually the serious questions came out. Leon gave her a serious look, the same one that she had always found so amusing.

“I wish you told me, about Leo.” said Leon, straight to the point. 

Ada crossed her arms.. “I should have, ” She tightened the grip on her arms. “But I didn’t.”

“I had a feeling why you didn’t.” Leon continued, breaking her gaze. “But you should have trusted me.”

Leon that same betrayed look he had during the standoff at Raccoon City. Up to this point, Leon had been pretty evasive and detached from asking any more questions since the birthday party. She was certain this was because Leon was trying not to care or is just trying to be polite, but it was like those swarming thoughts finally caught up with him. Ada couldn’t blame him, honestly.

“You’re right.” Ada finally said. “I’m sorry, Leon.” 

When she said those words, Leon’s eyes widened in surprise, clearly not anticipating such a response from her. That hard look he had earlier softened slightly as he looked down at his hands and then sighed. “I think somewhere inside, I’m still a little angry.”

““You should.” She didn’t have anything else to say. 

The atmosphere of the room was heavy as the two adults sat silently. A period of time passed and Leon suddenly raised a hand to rub his face before reaching over under the coffee table. He pulled out a scuffed looking binder, something that had clearly been handled a lot. Some of the leather seams were worn, but it still looked to be in decent condition, at least. Leon then handed her the book.

“What is this?” She asked, taking the book from him. Instead of answering, Leon gestured for her to open it, which she did.

Gazing at the pictures inside, Ada soon realized what this book was.. It was a scrapbook; meticulously taken care of as well. Awed, she carefully studied the pictures, fingers touching all the photographs. They were all of Leo, from all across the ages. From his first steps to his first word, _everything_ had been documented here. The memories that filled the blanks in her memories. 

“You took all these?” Ada queried, looking up at Leon, who was quietly watching her nearby.

“It was really Claire’s idea. She thought you might want to see this someday.” Leon caught her look of surprise and he explained. “She’s just that type of person. There’s a reason why Sherry calls her mom sometimes.”

“I...I see.” 

Ada returned to look at the images, feeling a sudden immense sadness. She was only a young kid, a foundling you could say, when her mother disappeared. Ada had done her best not to care, but she had just been so _frustrated_ with her. It wouldn’t be much to say that Ada _hated_ her mother for leaving her alone and defenseless all those years ago. It was partially the reason why she detested Annette during the whole Raccoon City incident. But now, this scrapbook felt like a mirror, reflecting all this history back to her. It hurt to realize that she had become just like the mother she hated so much.

“I.. missed a lot.” Ada quietly murmured after a while. Leo looked so happy in the photos.She wasn’t there to see them.

“You did.” responded Leon. It would have been vindictive and appropriate for Leon to reply with malice, with all the burden and sacrifice he’s had to make being the primary caretaker of their young son. Instead, it sounded pretty plain, almost offhand. Maybe he was just tired.

After taking her fill of the book, she gently closed it. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting her thoughts melt into the darkness. Ada then opened her eyes, turning to smile at Leon. “Not much of a mother, am I?”

Leon huffed, a little amused. “Not really.” He answered honestly. “But it’s nice you’re visiting more. Leo’s really happy to have you here.”

“How about you?” Ada tilted her head curiously, a little mischievous.

He was silent for a moment, before he finally answered. “It’s nice... to have you here too.”

The two shared a look, smiling slightly.

To punctuate the moment, there was a little click of the door. Leo came walking in, headphones in his ears and carrying a bookbag, having just finally returned from school. When he saw both his mother and father, his expression practically beamed, rushing over to sit with them and pulling out his earbuds. He’s grown a little since that birthday that changed it all, he was more or less a teenager now. The guy didn’t need to be watched by them anymore, he got his own circle of friends to hang out with. Even so, Leo seemed completely enamored with his parents, but maybe that was because he had believed they were both superheroes for most of his life.

“Hey dad, hey mom.” he greeted, sitting down with them, right next to Ada on the couch. Leo didn’t seem to have expected his mother to be here when he got home, but the kid was pretty used to his mother’s spontaneous. in-and-out visits. “I’ve gotten _way_ better at the grappling hook!” Leo looked at her, puffing out his chest.

“Really?” To be honest, Ada didn’t think that a grappling hook was such a great present for a kid, she didn’t exactly have anything to reference from, but Leo had grown really fond of it and had it with him _everywhere_. Apparently the practicing had given Leon a few more early extra white hairs.

“Yeah, I can _totally_ climb up onto the balcony if I wanted to, but _Dad_ won’t let me.” Leo glared at his father, pouting slightly.

“That’s because it’s _dangerous._ ” Leon said in a stern voice. He looked at Ada for a comment, but she wasn’t too bothered by this, just giving him a cheeky smile. After all, she was around Leo’s age too when she had been playing around with dangerous weapons, though that was mostly because she was being trained by that criminal syndicate during most of her youth.

The young teen was just about to speak again when he noticed the book on his mother’s lap, he outwardly grimaced. “Awh, _Dad,_ you’re not showing mom the _baby pics_ are you? You told me you wouldn’t show them to anybody!” His face was pink from embarrassment. 

“Not even your _mom_?” Leon raised his eyebrow. He glanced at Ada, who was pretty thoroughly entertained now.

“It’s just that- I don’t really... _you know._ ” Leo grumbled, looking obviously upset. “It’s just really _weird,_ okay?”

Ada touched her son’s shoulder, causing him to look at her. “Why? You were such a cute baby.”

The two watched as Leo’s face began to grow from pink to red, deciding that he had enough talking about those darn baby pics. He pulled himself to his feet, picking up his bookbag which he had strewn about on the floor while hurrying to sit with them. “I’m going to do my homework.” 

Not letting his parents get another word, Leo stuffed the earphones back into his ears and quickly made his way through the hallway leading up to his room, trying to hide his face from them all the way. When he was out of sight, Leon let out a chuckle.

“ _Teenagers_.” Leon muttered under his breath. He sounded annoyed, but Leon clearly was amused. He caught Ada’s eye. “He never likes looking at these much anymore. Hormones, I think.”

“Cute.” Ada chuckled.

They could hear the faint thumping of Leo moving about in his room as the two just enjoyed the moment together.. Eventually, Leon took the book from Ada and returned it to it’s spot on the shelf underneath the table, safe and tucked away. Leon looked deep in thought again.

“Have you ever thought about what would happen if Leo gets caught in our jobs?” Those serious eyes had returned.

Ada blinked, taken aback by the seriousness of the question. It would be a lie to say that she hadn’t thought about it, but she didn’t have an answer either. “Only if he wants to.” She said, though she had trouble believing her own words.

Leon seemed upset by this answer and shook his head, looking towards the ground. Ada had guessed why he was frustrated. Leo liked to rave about how he was going to become _just_ like his Dad, to become a cool government agent. Part of it was silly kid talk, but Leo had started to grow pretty serious about it too. Not only did he spend time practicing with his grappling hook, he even joined the martial arts after school activities. Leon had taken him to the shooting range, mostly just as a precautionary measure, _just in case_ , but Leo had been so eager to practice and go, Leon had to get a membership at their local shooting range so Leo could go practice on his own.

All this was probably scary to Leon. Ada guessed he didn’t want his son’s life to be eaten by the carnivorous government job that had stolen much of Leon’s time and youth. Ada honestly could say the same, the path she walked was hers alone, it wasn’t for Leo to follow either. 

“We should try to finish our wars, so the kids don’t have to fight it.” Leon declared, though he looked unbelieving. 

That statement just wasn’t possible. There was _no way_ they would be able to wrap up the bioterrorism chaos within their generation. As much as both of them didn’t want to admit, this war on bioterrorism was going to last for _decades,_ more so because they were the first to start experiencing it. 

As illogical as it was, Ada just gave him a slight nod of the head. “You’re right.”

* * *

-~*~-

When Ada had first heard of this intel, she was certain she had heard it all wrong. It didn’t seem real, not after so much of her life was getting so close to normalcy. But her informant had repeated himself again, cementing the whole thing through.

“An outbreak in the States. Near Washington, nearly the whole city’s been overrun. Most citizens declared deceased, military and government personnel have been dispatched to establish a perimeter.” garbled the disguised voice over her cellular device. “Rumors of Arias being responsible.”

“Copy.” she replied back, not letting her concern show in her voice before shutting it off.

It was the week of the fourth of July. Half a year ago, Leon had mentioned wanting to take his son to the capital for the occasion. Apparently this was something Leo was really looking forward to. Leon’s government position would allow them to have nice seats to the fireworks.

Leon and her son were there. Her _family._

At first, Ada just froze, unsure what exactly she’s supposed to do. She was currently on assignment, one that was due soon. While her clients this time aren’t particularly nasty, she didn’t really want to upset them, less they come at her with a blade later. But there was a nagging feeling at the back of her mind, she was cursed with images of the two most precious people in her life dying, being torn apart by zombies. Ada just felt torn, stressed even. Things had been so idyllic, or at least as much as it could be.

Would it be okay just to believe Leon will get him out again?

_“No.”_ A sharp voice echoed in her head. _“I’m tired of not being there for them.”_

Jilting her client out of the job would certainly bite her in the ass later, but she didn’t care. Ada had made up her mind, she needed to know if they were okay and if they needed her help.

It was easy to procure a helicopter for the occasion, she had her connections after all. Ada had the aircraft loaded with extra weapons and supplies, just in case she needed it. Once that was all said and done, she hopped in and took off for Washington D.C. Ada did her best to remain calm, to not let her nerves get the better of her. On her regular assignments, this was an easy thing to do, but it was a bit different when something personal was on the line.

When she arrived at the city, the carnage had made her squirm in her seat. The whole place was completely devastated. Undead littered the streets, lumbering around and chomping on dead carcasses and each other. Many of the buildings were on fire or destroyed, some abominations stalked through the empty streets, sniffing around for any survivors. 

She had been aware that Leon had gone to deal with an outbreak in New York a while back, but her contacts had told her that Glenn Arias was dead, killed thanks to the combined efforts of the BSSA and the US government. So who was behind _this_ outbreak then? How could Arias start an outbreak while being dead? The whole thing spelled incredibly fishy, she felt like there was way more here than what she got from her informant. Even if Ada had a personal reason to be here, the organization would be interested in any information she could procure.

Eventually, the mercenary found a nice spot on a small elevation, surrounded by several torn buildings. The chopper would be hidden here until she got back with Leon and Leo. After landing, Ada took it upon herself to arm herself to the teeth, she’s been in her fair share of outbreaks after all and you can never be over prepared. She’d also thought to carry a few more weapons and other things in case Leo and Leon needed them. 

After making sure that their ride out of here was secure, Ada turned her attention to the ruined city. It would be foolish to start screaming their names and hoping they would answer. Instead Ada brought out a special device she had always kept handy with her. She switched on the device and it spat out a little holographic interface. After a moment, a small blinking red dot appeared, causing Ada to sag in relief.

Unbeknownst to the father and son, Ada had placed a tracking device on Leo’s grappling hook when she had given it to him so long ago. It wasn’t really something she had planned persay, but Ada had simply tucked it in there just in case. And just in case it was. It was a good thing that Leo liked to carry that thing everywhere he went.

Years of experience made it easy to silently move through the zombies. This has been the umpteenth time she had been in a situation like this. This also wasn’t Leon’s first rodeo either, he could handle himself. A bonus is that Leon also had experience being a bodyguard in this situation too; though she hoped Leo would be easier to handle than that Ashley girl.

“Dad, give me a gun, I can come with you; I can help!” A young voice pleaded, echoing throughout the empty street.

Ada stopped in her tracks, taking a look at her device to see if this is where she needed to be. The blinking dot was pulsing so fast, it didn’t look like it was blinking anymore. This was definitely the place. She followed the voice to a small alleyway, hidden a decent length away from where the life of the party was. Ada spotted two figures in a conversation there. When she recognized their forms, Ada was overcome by a sense of relief.

_They were still alive._ Ada shook her head to herself. She should have known.

“ _No_.” A voice she recognized as Leon’s barked back. “Stay here until I clear the area. Then I’m getting you out of here.”

It sounded like they were arguing something fierce. Ada had thought about just dropping down there to introduce herself, but it didn’t seem right to intrude on the conversation. Instead, she crept a bit closer so she could have a better look, letting them finish.

Leo was standing in front of his father, an angry look at his face. Leon stood a bit aways, standing near a metal grate, the only entrance to this little safe room. He had a handgun in his hand. He already looked like he'd gone through the wringer, in contrast with Leo who looked comparatively “clean”, he still looked dirty though. Leon must’ve done most of the fighting.

“Why don’t you _trust_ me?” snapped Leo, taking a step closer. “Isn’t this why you taught me how to use a gun?”

“Listen, Leo, this is _not_ the time for you to learn how to use it.” Leon was terse. His voice was strong, Ada didn’t hear this type of voice from him often.

“Why _not_? The whole place is going to shit.” Leo argued. “I need a way to defend myself!”

Leon was quiet for a moment. “Not like this, kiddo. You don’t want to learn like _this_.”

There was a change in expression in Leo as they stilled for a moment. He was frustrated, but he looked like he could sense the history behind Leon’s words. Despite this, Leo open his mouth to speak again anyway. Seeing that this was just going to keep going nowhere, Ada finally decided to make herself known. With a running leap and the help of her grappling gun, she made her grand appearance. Her presence startled the both of them, making Leo jump in shock while Leon quickly turned to take aim at her. When Leon realized who she was he sighed and lowered his gun, but Leo regained his bearings. 

“Ada.” Leon breathed in relief.

“I can hear you boys arguing a mile away.” She warned them, giving them both a sharp look. “Are you trying to alert the entire horde?.”

“...Mom?” Leo finally squeaked, a little nervous. Ada turned to look at him, mildly shocked to see how tall Leo had gotten now. He was standing at her height, maybe a bit taller. 

“What are you doing here?” Leon sharply questioned. Even though he appeared calm, Ada noticed the little twitches in his hand. “Got some samples to collect? Another assignment?” He was unusually snippy with her. There had been many times he had been displeased with her, but Leon almost seemed cold.

“Not this time.” replied Ada in a voice equal to the one Leon gave her, giving him an even look back. “I’m here for you two.”

At this, Leon seemed to realize that his anger had gotten the better of him and he took a deep breath, trying to quell his nerves. “Good, take Leo outta here.”

“What!?” Leo exclaimed, disbelief plastered on his face. “You’re just going to send me _away_? What about you?”

“The heart of the attacks are at government buildings, all nearby personnel have been dispatched to deal with the issue.” Leon explained plainly. “Go with your mother; get to a safe place.”

Instead of backing off, Leo continued to give his father a hard stare. His features had grown much more defined, he was taller and much stronger. Leo was no longer the cute child in that scrapbook she had grown fond of. He looked a lot like her, with those dark hair and eyes, but he had always had Leon’s spunk. Right now, Leo had a very familiar nostalgic expression on his, one all too similar to the face of a rookie cop she had first met all those years ago.

“Dad.” Leo started, trying his best to sound serious. “I _want_ to come with you. I’m not a defenseless kid anymore. I _know_ how to fight, I _know_ how to shoot, I can take care of myself.” He took a short breath. “I’ll stay out of the way, _let me help._ ” He had such an earnest look on his face.

Ada stayed silent, didn’t feel right to say anything.

“Leo, listen.” The man sounded much more gentle this time, putting a hand on his son’s shoulder. “I know you want to help, to be the hero.” Their eyes met. “But that kind of attitude _will get you killed,_ understand?” He squeezed his son’s shoulder as emphasis. 

Leo flinched slightly, but he quickly regained his bearings. “Dad, I’m-I’m not just going to _leave_ you here-”

“Leo, I’m giving you an _order._ ” Leon’s loud voice startled both Leo and Ada with it’s rudeness. “You save _yourself_ first.” His expression then softened. “Go with your mother, okay? I’ll be fine, I promise.” 

There was a tragic look of realization in Leo’s eyes when he heard this. After a second or two of staring, he jerked himself out of his father’s grip, turning away and walking to the other side of the lot. Leon stared after him sadly, looking like he wanted to say something, but he instead turned away, rubbing his tired bruised face with blood stained fingertips. Ada watched the scene unfold with an uneasy feeling. Leon and Leo rarely ever fought on anything, they had a strong familial bond, though to be fair, Ada didn’t really have anything to really compare this too. But she had to say something.

Ada approached Leon. “He’s just like you.”

“I know.” Leon sighed. “That’s why I don’t want him to make the mistake I did.” 

He took that moment to fiddle with his gun, checking to see if it’s loaded and all that jazz. Ada took this opportunity to hand him a shotgun she had been carrying with her, just for this, which Leon took from her gratefully. Making sure everything was locked and loaded, he turned to look at her.

“Take care of him, will you?”

“You know I will.” 

The two locked eyes for a moment, staring in silence. Leon looked so tired, but she knew she couldn’t stop him. This was just the way things are.Ada spotted Leo peeking at them out of the corner of his eyes. He looked sad. Leon gave his son and Ada one last look and headed towards the metal grate door, but before he could get too far, Ada reached over to touch Leon’s shoulder, stopping him. He turned to look at her confused. 

“Take it easy, cowboy. You’re not as young as you used to be.” She touched his face lightly, her eyes tracing the tired wrinkles on his face. “He needs you to come back.” Something inside her did too.

Leon watched her for a moment before giving her a good hearted smile. He touched the hand on her shoulder. “I know.”

The tender moment now over, Leon departed on his mission, leaving Ada alone with her son. She watched him go for as long as he could until he disappeared out of sight. Once he was, she turned her attention to her son, who was still sulking, but seemed open to talk to his mother. 

“...why won’t Dad trust me?” the young man grumbled. 

“He does.” 

“Then why won’t he let me help?” Leo whipped his head to look at his mother. His eyes were watery, frustrated. “He fought all the zombies all by himself...and all I did was... watch.” He wrapped his arms around himself. Leo looked scared, Ada didn’t realize how much this situation might affect him emotionally.

“Are you alright?” She approached him, eyes scanning his body for signs of any injury, but there wasn’t.

“Yea, Dad protected me.” Leo still looked worried, even if he tried to hide it.

“Your father has survived much worse.” Ada assured him. 

Leo didn’t say anything back, he just looked depressed. Ada didn’t know what to say to make him feel better; this sort of thing wasn’t really her department. She’d ought to try anyway. Ada hadn’t been there much for Leo and Leon, but she was now. She had to try.

“Leon is worried about you.” she started. “Did he ever tell you what happened in Raccoon City?”

“Not really.” answered Leo honestly. “I asked him about it, but he just said you and Aunt Claire were there.”

_“Figures._ ” Ada thought. She continued. “Things were just like this. He was alone, you know, I wasn’t with him during most of it, neither was Claire. It’s hard for him to talk about it.” Ada paused for a moment, matching Leo’s gaze. “He doesn’t want you to walk the same path. This whole thing is probably reopening old wounds.”

The young man listened thoughtfully, taking in the information Ada was giving him. Ada let the kid think, they were in a relatively safe place after all. It seems this place was not frequented much by people even when things were normal. 

“I want to help people. Dad always told me how important that was, that’s why I was angry.” Leo spoke up, his voice was trembling slightly. “That’s why I want to become like Dad. I know you guys think I’m still a kid, but…” His voice trailed off for a moment. “I want to help, I don’t want to be useless. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

It was like Ada had gone back in time and she was watching Leon’s reaction to that gun shop owner back in Raccoon City. His expressions were the same, though some mannerisms were different. Just like that time, Ada found herself moved. She smirked to herself, she really hadn’t changed all that much after all. She had an idea, but Leon was not going to like it much. 

“Do you want to come with me?” She asked.

“Don’t really have a choice, do I?” mumbled Leo, looking upset that his heartfelt explanation didn’t seem to change anything.

“Alright then, let’s go.” Ada began to walk towards the door. “Your father can’t have gotten far.”

Leo snapped up his head, his eyes widened in surprise. He stared at his mother, confused. “... _What_?”

“I was planning to go back and help your father anyway.” Ada replied nonchalantly. She unequipped the extra pistol she had tucked away in her leg holster. She checked it over before offering it to Leo, along with the said holster. “If you’re so adamant on helping, I don’t see a reason why I should stop you.”

“Won’t Dad be mad?” Leo said slowly, tentatively taking the gun from Ada. 

“You let me deal with your father.”

Strapping the holster to his leg, Leo stood up straighter, realizing the weight of responsibility his mother had given. “...Thanks, mom.” He looked at her. “You know, I didn’t really think of you as my mom that much growing up, you were like a cool friend, but...I think it’s awesome to have you as my mom.”

She gave him a smug smile. She then took the other gun she had with her, the one she had meant to use as her own and handed it off to Leon. It was a sniper rifle. Ada wasn’t sure if Leo had been trained to use this, but it seemed like a better idea to have Leo stay farther away from battle if he could. “Take this.”

Leo began to reach for it, but as soon as he grabbed it, Ada jerked it closer, pulling Leo closer to her face. There was a sharp look in her eyes, which startled Leo, but he looked at her evenly back, feeling as though he shouldn’t look away.

“Unlike Leon, I _’m_ not used to having a tag-a-long.” She told him seriously. It was the truth, Ada never worked with a partner. “You _will_ do what I say. If I say run, you _will_ run.” Her expression must have been ferocious, because Leo looked intimidated. “Understand?”

“Yes, m’am.” He finally managed to say, gulping.

Satisfied with the answer, Ada loosened the grip, allowing Leo to take the gun from her. She let Leo get familiar with the gun as she thought about the next course of action. It would probably be best to stop by the helicopter and pick up the extra weapons and supplies she left in there, she didn’t feel comfortable running around with just a handgun. She had already learned her lesson back in Raccoon City after getting chomped on by zombies. Doing this would put some distance between them and Leon, but it might be for the best for now to let Leon do his work and then only jump in if he needs it.

She turned to look at Leo again, who had slung the sniper on his back and was still holding the handgun. It was then she noticed that the grappling hook was still slung on his belt. She smiled and Leo traced her gaze to see what she was looking at.

“Know how to use that thing now?” questioned Ada.

“Yeah.” Leo replied, the beginnings of a smile forming on his face. 

“Good.” Ada unclipped her own grappling hook, holding it up. “Keep up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The scene at the beginning of the fic wasn't that long at first, and it was a lot more abrupt. It didn't feel right reading it over, so I decided to flesh it out after I realized I wanted to settle some open plot lines before the more action-y, serious stuff happens. Ada was particularly hard to write this chapter, I hope she doesn't feel too strange. I usually give myself a day or two more to read over and edit so the chapter is as best it can be, but I decided to post it early in conjunction with a very special video I have also posted around this time.
> 
> I have to thank a certain person (or persons, as they like to be called?) for commenting for cheering me up and motivating me to continue writing and try to improve. Really, thank you for commenting, but unfortunately if you continue to do so in this crude, spammy nature, I will be forced to remove them. If anyone is still interested in seeing these comments, you can find them here (tread with care, they are quite vulgar):  
> https://imgur.com/gallery/ehCgxm1
> 
> In regards to that special video, the comments were so funny, my friends and I have made a commentary/dramatic reading of it. This video is part of the reason why this chapter went up a little early than usual. If anything, it's a big thank you to those comments :)  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s2fxcwKNj4  
>   
> Well anyways, thanks all for reading and the other lovely comments I received. I got quite a bit of support from other people, both in comments and DMs, I really appreciate them! The next chapter might be a while to post since I edited this chapter so much, it affected all future chapters. But I'll continue working on this during my free time! Thanks for reading, see you next chapter!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like every time I go back and edit a chapter, this story just keeps getting longer. I just keep finding ways to flesh out the story a little more, it's almost like I don't want it to end. But the end IS coming soon, I don't want this story to get bloated. Once again, Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 used to be one chapter, but it got split in half due to length and to fix pacing. Which meant that due to editing, one chapter became three xD 
> 
> Sorry it took a while to bring it out, I really wanted to make it a good chapter.

Leon made his way through the broken streets of Washington D.C., expertly dispatching any zombies or B.O.W.s that came his way. Well aimed head shots and the occasional kick here, these zombies were nothing new. He was no stranger to the hell here; years of experience made it almost easy to take them down. 

It hadn’t always been that way. No matter how many monsters he stared down, no matter how much he was chomped on or tossed about,  _ nothing  _ would top the agonizing terror and pain he felt during the Raccoon City Incident. It was different then, when he was so young, when there wasn’t always a government handler ready at his call, when he was truly  _ alone.  _ Those first few hours dealing with the zombie horde, that chilling moment when he realized guns did  _ nothing... _ Leon was lucky those days when he didn’t have those nightmares.

That was why, when he looked into Leo’s eyes that day, Leon almost felt like he was looking at a mirror of his past self. One of pure terror.

It had been a normal day that day. They, along with several other people, had been waiting around the Washington monument, waiting for the fireworks to start. It was still early in the evening, so there was still some light.

Leon had been uneasy about coming to Washington, he had been informed by both Hunnigan and Sherry that there had been some shady going-ons in several states, D.C. being one of them. But Leo seemed so excited to go see the fireworks here, Leon had pushed aside that fear. After all, they were in such a big public area in the heart of America, what’s the worst that can happen, right? 

If he had known what was going to happen, maybe he would have kept his mouth shut. 

The first sign that something was wrong was the distant sound of sirens in the distance, different from the usual fire alarm. Leon spotted several police cars speeding in the direction of the chaos and many others fleeing the  _ opposite  _ direction. Leo had picked up on this and had asked him what was going on and Leon went to confer with some of the other vacationing agents and officials here to ask what was going on. None of them had a solid idea, but one of the on-duty officers there told him that some incident had broken down at the National Mall. They didn’t mention anything specific, but there was a deep uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. 

Multiple plumes of smoke started to waft up in the distance and that’s when things  _ really  _ started to go to hell. Screams and shouts suddenly filled the air as droves of people fled in the opposite direction. Many of them were pushing each other aside in panic, which didn’t really help the building chaos. Leon’s first instinct was to try to figure out what was going on, but Leon decided that protecting Leo was much higher on the priority list than that.

Leon grabbed Leo’s hand, dragging his son along. “Dad? What’s going on?” He sounded confused, but there was no time to explain. 

It didn’t matter that they had a head start because after a few moments of running, they bumped into their first zombie, in the long lines of many. Leon quickly engaged the zombie before it had a chance to grab him or anyone else nearby. He grappled it, elbowing it roughly to the ground before stomping on it’s head, crushing underfoot. Pumped up by adrenaline, Leon whirled his head about, seeing if there were any others.

“...Dad?” A timid voice asked.

That small, scared voice had woken up Leon from his autopilot. He slowly turned to Leo, who was staring at him in shock and confusion. He looked more stunned than he was scared. The two shared a look that only lasted a second, but in that second, Leon felt his whole history was being reflected back at him. He wasn’t staring at just Leo, he was staring at a terrified young cop who was way in over his head. 

The sounds of nearby screaming civilians woke Leon up and he took Leo’s hand again, pulling him along. There was no time to be caught up in his traumatic memories right now.

“ _ No. _ ” Leon thought to himself.  _ “Not this again. Not to him. _ ”

Leon blinked the thoughts away, feeling them water slightly. The terror of having his son go through the same experience he did overwhelmed his more rational side. It would make more sense for Leon to hand his extra pistol to the boy so he could defend himself. Heck, even _Ashley_ took a couple shots with his pistol during that whole Illuminados excursion, but he just... _couldn’t_. He couldn’t make Leo go through that.

This was all happening again, but Leon was determined not to let it go the same way.

_ “--Are you doing okay, Leon?--”  _ A buzzed from his device. It was Hunnigan, calling to check in on him.

“Just shaky. It’s pretty rowdy down here.” Not the full truth, but Leon didn’t feel like talking about his feelings right now. It wasn’t the time nor the place.

_ “--Are you sure you don’t want to pull out? Leo was with you, right?-- _ ” asked Hunnigan. Although the interference was quite bad, Leon could tell she was worried.

It would be a lie to say that Leon wasn’t worried about his son. There was nothing more he wanted than to check in with Ada and make sure he’s safe, but he was certain he would be safe with Ada. He could count on her to take care of him. As aloof and professional as she pretended to be at times, Ada did love Leo, in her own little weird way. 

Leon had a job to do. People were counting on him to do his job. Even if he did escape with Leo, safe and sound, he couldn’t rest easy knowing there as something he could do. Sometimes Leon wanted to curse his troublesome desire to play hero. Honestly, the agent should know better now, he’s an old grizzled man with years of experience, but alas Leon could never shake this part of himself.

“I have someone taking him out of here. He’ll be okay.” remarked Leon, trying to play it off causally. “Don’t worry.”

There was a considerable pause, like Hunnigan was analyzing his answer. She sighed after a moment. “-- _ If you say so.--”  _

Hunnigan continued to explain the whole situation to him and gave him his assignment. The intelligence gathered so far on the outbreak pointed to Glenn Arias being responsible. But that  _ wasn’t  _ possible. Leon literally saw him explode with his very eyes, how could a dead man be responsible for all this? But then again, it wouldn’t be the first time that something or someone considered dead would come back to life. 

No one had any idea how the outbreaks started yet, but scrubbing through security footage had revealed that mystery personnel had planted viral bombs in the most populated hallmarks of July 4th. An analysis so far of the zombies determined that they were different than the A-Virus zombies that were in New York and shared more characteristics with the Plaga and the C-Virus than the T-Virus. These new zombies attacked indiscriminately, attacking live people as well as each other. They didn’t seem to have any focused goal or target, but they  _ did  _ seem to be doing  _ something.  _ It was hard to tell.

_ “--Recon said they seem to be congregating in certain areas in the city, though we haven’t figured out a pattern yet.--”  _ explained Hunnigan, bringing up a map of all the plotted points. 

“So how do we know Arias is a part of this?” questioned Leon. He paused to take cover by what’s left of a crumbled building so he could pay better attention to the conversation with his handler. “I’m  _ pretty _ sure Chris and I killed him.”

_ “--Intel says that Arias was the one who ordered the attack, but that source is unconfirmed, but that’s all we got--”  _ Hunnigan reported. Then she brought up another series of images, faces of people Leon recognized.. “-- _ The Secret Service sent Agent Harper, who is coordinating a team to investigate a possible sighting at this government building.--” _

“Let me guess, you want me to tag along and check things out?” 

**“** _ \-- Agent Harper has been notified that you will be joining the team. She will meet you at these coordinates. --”  _ A blinking red light appeared on the map he was looking out.

“Copy. Headin’ out now.” Leon clicked his communicator off, but had it set to ring just in case Hunnigan needed to talk to him again.

Getting to the meetup point was easy enough, it was really just more of walking and shooting that he had grown used to. But things were usually  _ never  _ that easy. 

The place they were going to meet up was the remnants of this very popular coffee shop. It was near the main street and easy to get to, but in a defensible position if they got attacked. A wise meeting choice, Leon had thought. He had arrived expecting Helena and her team to be already waiting there, but the space was empty, save for a couple of rats who had emerged too much on the spoiled food on the floor. Leon tried to have faith that they were just running a bit late and were just around the corner, but the party never arrived.

After nearly thirty minutes had passed, Leon decided that this meetup was w _ ay  _ overdue.

“Hunnigan.” He flicked on his communicator, bringing his handler back on the line. “There’s no sign of Helena or the team here. Are you sure this is the right place?”

_ “--These were the coordinates that Helena gave me…”  _ Hunnigan sounded confused. She began typing away at her keyboard, looking more and more concerned.  _ “--I..can’t get in contact with them. They’re not picking up their comms.--”  _

Hearing this, Leon began to fear the worse. While Helena was both aggressive and impulsive at times, she was one of the government’s most valued members of the Secret Service, someone like her wouldn’t go down easily. 

“I’ll go look for her.”

_ “--Leon.--”  _ Hunnigan spoke sharply, looking like she was about to protest, but then she paused and shook her head.  _ “--Be careful, okay? We don’t know what’s out there.”  _

“Copy that.” 

Waiting a few more minutes just in case they were just about to arrive, Leon scanned the area around the coffee shop, peeking out one of the broken windows. There were a few undead stragglers idling about, trembling awkwardly as they stared blankly into the sky, mindlessly chewing their lips off. It was sort of strange, seeing them looking so  _ lost _ . They were certainly away from ‘the pack’, where the other zombies were gathered at the moment. Leon wondered if it had something to do with the things Hunnigan had said.

Regardless of what was causing them to act this way, their funky behavior made it pretty easy to get by. They barely paid him any attention. Leon considered just taking them out right now while they would be easy to kill, but he decided against it. There wasn’t a lot he knew about these zombies yet. These things could easily mutate into something much more vicious when provoked.

As he followed the route that the missing team had been following, there were noticeably less and less zombies. Eventually, the streets and buildings grew eerily empty. No movement, it was devoid of life. Normally outbreaks are pretty chaotic, but seeing how everything here just stilled, it almost seems peaceful. It really unsettled him.

Just as he was about to turn a corner past a rubbled building, the sound of shuffling footsteps made him freeze. He waited, seeing if the noise would continue, but whatever had made that noise had also stopped. Taking a shaky shallow breath so as to not make any noise, Leon started to peek slowly around the corner, trying to make his presence as small as possible.

But as soon as the muzzle of his gun made its appearance around the corner, a hand shot out and grabbed at it, trying to pull it away. Startled, Leon tried to push the attacker away with a kick, but just as he was about to deliver the blow, he realized who he was tussling with.

“Helena!” He exclaimed, immediately dropping his kick and going slack.

“...Leon?” The woman stared at him in disbelief. She hung her head, taking a deep breath. “Thank  _ god _ …”

“Hunnigan, we found them.” he said over the comms to his handler. Leon noticed the several other agents that were huddling in the corner, hidden away from plain view. They were still alive, Helena must have hidden them there.

_ “--Thank goodness.-- _ ” sighed Hunnigan in relief. From Leon’s position, she began to start monitoring all their vitals and taking a head count.

Leon was about to speak again when he noticed the strange wounds on Helena and the other agents. Her arms and body were littered with grievous looking slash marks, not one you would expect from a zombie or even a B.O.W.. Helena’s right face has a particularly nasty gash that grazed over her eye, which seemed to be hindering her sight somewhat. It honestly look like they had all gotten in a huge knife fight and not having run through a zombie infested zone.

“Are you okay?” Leon asked her, then looking at the other agents, who looked too delirious in pain to answer. “What the hell happened?”

“We were ambushed.” Helena started, the pain finally overwhelming her and she sat down again. Leon crouched next to her so he could look her over. 

“Arias?” 

“No, no,.. not him.” grimaced Helena, leaning her head back. “It was that woman-, the one that helped Arias. The bodyguard’s daughter, Maria Gomez.” She hissed between each sentence as she trying to stave off the pain. “ _ She  _ was responsible for all this. Arias is dead.”

“Maria?” Leon was confused. 

It took a moment for Leon to place a face and identity on that name, but after a moment of thinking, he remembered who Helena was referring to. There was a woman who had worked alongside Arias, the bodyguard’s daughter. Leon had almost completely forgotten of her existence, but from the reports he read, it was assumed that she had perished, but they never found the body. The realization made him pursed his lips. They are  _ never  _ dead the first time. Everyone should really know that by now. 

“She lured us in, screwed up our communicators.... We  _ barely  _ escaped.” Helena shuddered at the memory. “Something was wrong with her, Leon. She wasn’t human, not anymore.”

Leon licked his lips, unsure of what to think or answer. Instead, he stood up and flicked on his communicator to send Hunnigan his coordinates. “I think you guys have done enough fighting for today. I’m calling in evac; Hunnigan?”

_ “--On it. I got a visual of you and the team. Sending in the closest medical chopper to your location.--” _

Satisfied, Leon put away his communicator and looked seriously at Helena. “I’ll go on ahead, you guys stay put.”

“ _ Alone?  _ Leon, you  _ can’t.  _ She’s too dangerous, you’ll need backup.” She began to stand up. “I’ll go with you.”

“No.” Leon ordered, pushing the injured agent back down. “You need to stay here and protect your team. I’ll be fine.”

Helena looked like she wanted to argue, but she turned her head to look at her fellow teammates who all looked at her expectedly. She sighed, defeated. “And  _ I  _ thought I was the reckless one.” She looked up at him. “Watch your back. I’d hate to break the news that you aren’t coming home.”

“I know.” He replied, avoiding her gaze and pretending to fiddle with his gun. Helena didn’t seem to know that Leo had been here. Well, she didn’t really need to know that.

Before continuing on his way, Leon did a sweep of the perimeter, just to make sure that this whole area was secure. It didn’t feel right leaving a troop of injured agents here without at least checking to make sure that was a safe place for them to wait. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you looked at it, there were no zombies here. They had all disappeared to god knows where doing god knows what. At least, for them, it was good that none of them were here. Satisfied that the missing team was tucked safely away, he began to retrace Helena’s steps, back to where she and her team had been attacked. 

Seeing the nervousness and fear in Helena’s eyes when she told him about the attack had worried Leon. Though, this romp through the outbreak alone would have been the first time. Arguably, his time in Raccoon City and Spain felt much worse, since he was completely isolated and without help. At least here, Hunnigan was a call away, but that didn’t really make him feel much better.

Eventually, after some time of walking in unsettling silence, Leon found the government building that Helena and her team had been investigating earlier. He noticed several bodies leaning against the steps and against the wall. He recognized the government emblems on their clothing and rushed over to check on them. Leon knelt by the bodies, hands hurriedly checking over them. They were the absent members of Helena’s team, the ones who didn’t make it out.

Unfortunately, it seemed that they were all already long dead, their faces frozen in shock and terror. There were noticeable bloody streak marks on the ground, bloody handprints clawing the ground; some of them had not died instantly. He gave a depressed sigh, turning them over so he could look for their identification. They couldn’t be forgotten like this.

He was checking on one of the other bodies near the door and was shocked to see a relatively young face on one of them. This man didn’t look much older than Leo, really too young to have died. Gazing at the young agent’s face filled Leon with immense sorrow, realizing that some parents out there we're going to get news of this, all of this. It would crush Leon if something like this happened to his son. 

No, he  _ wouldn’t  _ let anything like that happen. 

_ “--Leon?--”  _ Hunnigan’s voice cut through his thoughts.

Leon blinked, realizing that he had been consumed in his thoughts for too long. “I’m okay. Just…” He glanced over the dead bodies.

_ “--I’ll make sure their families know.--”  _

“Yeah.” Was all Leon could say. He wished he could apologize to them properly.

As he was shifting aside the last of the bodies, Leon heard a noise from somewhere deep inside the building. He cautiously approached the doors, peeking his head through and was horrified to see that the bloodshed had not stopped at just the entrance. In fact, it looked much,  _ much  _ worse. 

“Jesus Christ, are you getting this, Hunnigan?” He whispered under his breath.

Blood and guts were splattered across the walls and floor of the reception area, the stench of death was overwhelming. Several violent gashes adorned the walls, floors, and ceiling. The occasional shattered gun lay between the rubble. Fleshy bits were scattered here and there, Leon really didn’t want to think that they were once human. The bodies outside were lucky, Leon thought.

_ “--Yes.--”  _ answered Hunnigan, though her voice was distorted slightly. The interference had gotten stronger.

After investigating the gore a little more, Leon finally decided that there was nothing more he could do here at the reception and that he had better luck trying to figure out what that sound he heard earlier was. The agent continued to move through the building, trying to avoid stepping on the remains that were bludgeoned into the floor. It was hard to imagine the person, or creature, that was responsible for this. Leon wasn’t sure what idea he hated more: a superhuman wielding a large knife or a manic knife-infused B.O.W.; both ideas were undesirable.

Spurred on by the desire to avenge those who had been lost, Leon continued to make his way through the empty building. Most of the areas were as one might expect, completely trashed and abandoned. Honestly, Leon had expected to find more bodies the further he went in, or at least some zombies, but the rooms were all devoid of life, or unlife. To top the mystery off, he found evidence of what looked like someone vigorously and meticulously rummaging through the place, picking every scrap of paper and computer apart. Some of the rooms even had their lights on. 

When Leon found a fresh pair of bloody footprints leading deeper into the building, Leon realized he wasn’t alone.

He followed the prints to one of the inner data rooms, where the more sensitive information would be stored. As he approached the rooms, Leon heard the sound of someone shuffling inside, typing away at a computer. For some reason, Leon thought it might be Ada, this seemed like something she might do if she was on a mission here, but that didn’t make sense. Ada was with Leo, away from the outbreak.

Leon poked his head through the crack in the door and noticed a figure standing over one of the computers. While the person was turned away, Leon could tell from the figure that they were female. Is that Maria? What the hell was she doing? He lightly touched his communication device so Hunnigan could have a better look at what they were dealing with.

“Hunnigan.” He mouthed quietly to his handler.

“ _ \-----------------------”  _ All Leon heard was static. Weird, he had been talking to her just fine a moment ago. 

At that very second, the woman in the room suddenly whirled around and stared directly at him. It was almost like she had gotten wind of his communication attempt. Realizing that he had been spotted, Leon shuffled quickly away from the door. Just in time too, as a bloody fist smashed through the wooden door with little effort. Leon brought up his handgun to point it at the woman as she broke away the door and came out into the hallway to confront him.

“So you’re Maria?” questioned Leon, taking cautious steps back to put some distance between them. She looked pretty ‘normal’ right now, but he didn’t think that would stick. “I heard you were the host of this year’s party.”

Maria scowled, not appreciating Leon’s tone. Then there was a look of recognition on her face. “ _ You. _ You were there.” Her expression hardened as she bared her teeth.

The woman tightened her fists, taking a step towards him, barely containing her fury. It was then Leon noticed how the blood dripped from strange gashes on her skin. Leon grimaced inwardly, recognizing the familiar patterns of the cracks of the wounds. It looked just like Simmons did when he got infected with the C-Virus. Leon continued to back up carefully, still training his gun at her.

“You  _ killed  _ my family.  _ All of them _ ” Maria seethed, her flesh beginning to undulate widely. Leon could see her form changing slightly. 

“It was more of a team effort.” Leon replied coolly, trying not to show how intimidated he was.

Maria growled, a gurgly sort of wet growl. It didn’t sound human. Parts of her skin and muscle began to peel away. There was a sickening crackling sound as her spine seemed to rearrange itself as strange sharp boney and bleached appendages emerged from her back. Her jaw seemed to dislocate, splitting open into a sharp serrated maw. Parts of her face cracked open and pulsated with her heartbeat. The new boney limbs stabbed into the ground, lifting her up, much like the legs did on a spider. The rest of Maria’s body did not mutate, but it certainly  _ seemed  _ capable. Leon guessed that this wouldn’t be her final form.

Leon licked his lips, training his focus on her. He was having trouble deciding whether he should be the one to break the standoff by firing his gun or if he should wait for her to make her first move. 

It didn’t matter because Maria didn’t let him decide. 

With a guttural inhuman shriek she charged towards him, the limbs striking out at him. Leon fired a couple rounds at the human body hanging from the limbs, but she blocked it by raising her bony limbs. Realizing that firing blindly wasn’t going to work, Leon reacted quickly and shot the sprinkler above her head.

Water sprayed out from above, blinding the woman for a moment, giving Leon enough chance to turn around and run away. Realizing what he had done, Maria began scuttling after him, wiping the water from her face, her boney limbs jamming into the wall as she tried to catch up to him. Deciding that he needed more space to fight her, Leon led her back into the reception area, where there would be more space to maneuver and figure out what to do. Plus, he didn’t really know the rest of this building that well, it would be better to fight her in a place he recognized. As he ran, he continued in vain to contact Hunnigan, but his comms were completely fried. Was it somehow Maria’s influence?

When he reached the reception area, Leon sprinted and slid behind some rubble to catch his bearings. He sucked in his breath as he heard her enter the room.

“Hunnigan!” He hissed into his communicator, but there was no answer.  _ Shit.  _

At that moment, Leon realized how silent the room had gotten and he peeked over the rubble carefully to see where Maria had gone. He was confused to find that there was no one there, but his confusion was soon answered by dust falling from the ceiling above. Leon jerked his head up to see Maria suddenly dropping down from above, her sharp spear-like limbs taking violent jabs at him.

He managed to roll out of the way, but as he was about to run and make some distance, Maria tripped his escape path by stabbing a few of her limbs in the way and rearranging some rubble. Leon was boxed in. 

Not wanting to let the momentum of the fight shift, Leon whirled around, this time equipping the shotgun he had been carrying all this time. He fired off a round at Maria’s body, the assumed weak point, but again she shielded it again with her boney appendages. This time however, the close proximity of the shots caused the cartilage to crack and after a few more shots, the limb snapped in half. 

The creature hissed, annoyed and not too bothered that it had lost one of it’s limbs. Instead, she flung out her broken limb at Leon, who wasn’t able to react fast enough this time due to being so close. Leon hit the wall, hard. 

“Ugh…” Leon groaned. “Geez…” 

His side hurt and his head rang; he was seeing double. Leon forced himself to scramble to his feet, but his body wasn’t working right. The agent had been in his share of toss and tumbles and Leon normally had no problem recovering from them, but the repeated abuse or old age or  _ something  _ must have made this toss hurt much more.

He could only stare up at her, holding his shotgun up, ready to fire. Though Leon didn’t think he would be able to make a clear shot in his state right now. Maria watched him carefully, seeming to find great satisfaction in his suffering. Her still-human eyes glinted with righteous indignation as she approached him.

“You’ll pay…” He heard her grumble, her voice distorted by the shifted flesh. “You government  _ dogs _ will pay for what you’ve done.” Somewhere under all that anger and monstrous grumblings, Leon thought she sounded sad.

“Sorry, I don’t play dead.” Leon gave the woman a smirk, though honestly he really wasn’t feeling it. His younger 27 year old self was much better at this stuff than he was now.

Annoyed by his defiance, the human turned monster raised a limb to attack it’s defenseless target when suddenly a sharp sound rang out. Leon watched in shock and confusion as blood exploded from Maria’s back, severing one of her limbs clean off from it’s much more tender joint on her back. As if this wasn’t enough, a shadow emerged from the second floor balcony of the reception hall, swinging into the light. 

A familiar red woman fired a strange looking arrow which lodged itself neatly in Maria's neck. After a moment, it exploded, spraying liquid everywhere, spewing hot steam out. Maria screamed in pain as she stumbled back, clawing at her burning flesh; Leon could practically smell it all from where he was. 

The dark haired woman landed next to him, approaching him briskly.

“Hey, handsome.” greeted the woman with that damn smile. “Thought you could use a hand.” 

“ _ Ada _ ?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maria actually didn't have much of a role in the original version of this story. She was supposed to be a background character, acting similar to Wesker in RE4, but I decided to make her the actual mutant monster in this story. Part of it is because I really wonder if they are going to ever resolve that cliffhanger plot point from Vendetta. I kinda hope they do, because I'm sort of curious to see how Maria plans to enact her revenge. Well, this is how she does in this story at least. 
> 
> Leon's journey to meeting Maria was also much shorter in the first edit, but I ended up expanding it because I just had so much fun writing it I suppose ><" Well I hope it's at least an enjoyable read. Helena wasn't also part of this chapter initially, but I decided to add her in because I just like her and I am half-hoping Capcom decides to use her character again in the RE stories someday (probably not though..)
> 
> It probably won't take as long to bring out Chapter 6, it is practically written out already and just needs to be posted. There will actually be only one more story chapter after Chapter 6 (which would be Chapter 7), "Chapter 8" is actually an epilogue chapter that will be posted at the same time as Chapter 7. So we are nearing the end of the journey of this story. I know it's not finished yet, but I would like to thank all the readers who stuck this long, I really appreciate it! See you next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I know I said the next chapter wasn't going to take too long, but I began suffering from some medical issues that sort of impeded my ability to edit and post this chapter. It's cleared up now, so don't worry. I'm sorry it took so long and I'm grateful for all the comments I got in the meantime! This was a tough chapter to right; though in general I always find it difficult to write Ada since she just keeps her cards so close to her, but anyways, I hope you enjoy!

Tracking down Leon in this chaotic mess proved to be more than a challenge than Ada had first realized. It had been easier to track down him and Leo together, since she had bugged Leo’s grappling hook, something that Leo still didn’t know about. Regrettably, her mind had been too addled with relief when they first met up that Ada forgot to bug Leon when she met him earlier. Thankfully however, that handler of his, Hunnigan, was pretty active on the lines and she managed to snoop through some of the well hidden government comms to find out what happened to Leon.

From the reports that she discreetly downloaded from government servers, Ada had a rough plot line of the events that happened. Firstly, Leon was supposed to meet up with a team consisting of both members of the DSO, SS, and relevant agents others who were then tasked with looking into the root of the issue; investigating a sighting at one of the afflicted government buildings. Unfortunately, it seems that team had gone missing and being the hero cowboy he was, Leon went to find them. After he did, he heroically (and stupidly) went ahead to solve the issue  _ alone _ .  _ Tsk tsk,  _ Leon never changed.

The sources had also said that a ‘Maria Gomez’ was actually the real culprit of the whole thing, not Arias like most of them had expected. For Ada, this all made sense. She had heard tidbits and rumors from her world that the woman was alive, though Ada didn’t realize how far along Maria had been to orchestrate all this or what she had been planning at all. Had she known, Ada might have been able to pull some strings and stop something like this from happening, but there was no point thinking about that right now.

Leo had watched Ada do all this with interest. He told her that Leon never really clued him in on any work he did, which made sense since Leon probably wanted to keep Leo far away from his job as possible. Even though Leo was the son of one of their best agents, Leo was allowed to act and live as a normal citizen because he just didn’t know anything; Leon had likely wanted to keep it that way. But what the government or Leon didn’t know won’t hurt them, and she humored Leo with his little questions and curiosity, so long as he knew to keep quiet about them later. It was normally pretty hard for Ada to be open like this, but hanging out with Leon and her son had really turned her soft. It was hard to decide whether or not that was a good thing though.

“Maria Gomez.” She pondered out loud, pulling up what she knew about the woman on her device. 

Leo curiously looked at the holographic face in the file.“Who’s she?”

“Supposedly, she’s the woman responsible for this. I heard rumors she was alive, but I didn’t think she would go this far.” Ada flicked her device shut and looked in the direction Leon had gone. “Honestly, I wasn’t even sure she was still alive.”

Leo’s face scrunched in confusion, shifting the large cargo on his back for a better grip. “Why would  _ anyone  _ want to do this?”

“People have their reasons.” shrugged Ada, giving the impression like she didn’t know. But she did.

Her backlog of assignments and involvement in the bioweapon industry knew better though. She even had a theory why Maria had gone this route; it seemed a little too similar to what happened with Carla Radames. Would it be much for Maria to want the same thing? Revenge?

“She didn’t seem to like the government very much.” She finally proposed.

“ _ Weirdo _ .” decided Leo with a look and tone of disgust.

Ada chuckled in amusement at the simplicity of Leo’s reasoning, before changing her tone to something more serious. “Your very heroic father went to confront her alone. He probably needs our help right about now.”

The two didn’t waste any more time and made it to the marked government building at record speed. Upon getting close, Ada detected a strange electric field emitting from somewhere inside the building. It was making some of her electronics behave strangely, sort of like an EMP, but the source seemed organic. This didn’t feel right.

“Something is here.” Ada informed her son, who was shifting nervously next to her. They were currently in the building across the street, watching carefully. “Be careful.”

“Yes, m’am.” His eyes seemed drawn to the dead bodies that littered the front steps and he swallowed nervously. It didn’t seem like he was used to seeing the dead bodies quite yet. Ada touched his shoulder sympathetically; even if he wanted to come here, seeing the dead was always difficult, especially for the first time.

She and Leo swung to the building next door. When they landed on the building nearby, Ada heard a crash coming from inside and several sounds of gunfire. The shots didn’t sound panicked, like someone was shooting all over the place, but did sound hurried. Ada had a good guess about who was wandering about inside. Looks like they arrived  _ just  _ in time. 

Ada stood up to face her son. “Stay on the outskirts, Leo. Show me you can use that gun.” She gestured to the sniper rifle in his hands. “I’ll be going in to help your father. He sounds like he needs a little backup.”

“By myself?” His voice cracked in uncertainty.

“I know you can handle yourself here.” assured Ada, with a smug smile. She had the confidence that Leo would be alright, he  _ was  _ her son after all. 

Leo visibly gulped, looking a bit apprehensive;it was a big responsibility after all. But after a moment to himself, he nodded determinedly and gave his mother a strong look. The young man set down the case he had been carrying and armed himself with his sniper rifle properly. He took position near the edge and gave her a thumbs up, giving her a grin, even if it was a little nervous. Ada felt a rush of pride; Leo had already shown proficiency with a grappling hook and so far, he’s been a good shot, if not a bit impulsive. If Leo wanted to follow down the path he wanted to, Ada was certain he would succeed. 

Ada tweaked the communication device, making sure it was connected to the one she gave Leo’s. She switched the comm to a special channel; that way they would still be able to communicate despite the odd organic interference that seemed to slurp up the other channels. When she was certain she had a secure line with her son, Ada busied herself with trying to figure out what the best point of entry was for this building, though she didn’t really have to spend too long. The sound of ghastly screams and groaning pierced the silence as she watched through the shattered windows as Leon suddenly came barreling out of the hallway, right into the reception hall, followed by a very ugly looking spidery creature.

Maybe Ada should have been surprised, but she wasn’t. If anything, a situation like this seemed pretty tame in comparison to the other things she and Leon had gotten tangled into. This seems about right. Leo on the other hand had gasped out loud, frozen stiff at the sight of this creature.

“What the  _ hell  _ is  _ that _ ?” Leo gagged. He seemed to grow slightly green, gripping the rifle harder.

Ada didn’t really have time to explain in detail, Leon needed help, but she gave him an encouraging pat on the back. “It’s go time.  _ Remember: _ run away when I tell you to.”

That seemed to snap Leo out of his daze and he swallowed, clearly trying to hold back the urge to vomit. “O-okay.” He took a deep breath and adjusted his position so he was aiming at the thing. “I can do this. I  _ will  _ do this.” He continued to mutter to himself. 

Seeing as Leo got his nerves, Ada leapt into action without another word, slipping through one of the less shard-y windows that lead to the second floor balcony area of the reception. Her entrance went unnoticed, the ugly thing seemed way more interested in trying to poke Leon than it was to notice her slip in. When she finally made it to a good vantage point, she clicked her tongue in irritation as she watched Leon get smashed into the wall, rather loudly. That didn’t sound very good. It sounded like Leon and the thing was exchanging a few words which was when Ada realized that this  _ thing _ was likely the star of the show, ‘Maria’. The maybe-Maria creature raised one of its limbs to strike Leon, who still seemed winded and Ada decided that it was time to act now before things got too ugly.

Before she could shoot out her grappling hook to dive into action, there was a thundering shot and a flash of light, splattering the back of the creature, right in the tender fleshy bits. Ada glanced back briefly, seeing the glint of a sniper’s scope.  _ Good shot _ . Following up on Leo’s attack, she added her own attack, firing an acid round and landed nearby to fetch the confused and dazed Leon. 

“Hey, handsome.” Ada greeted him with a smile. She didn’t like how tired and already beat up he looked but she didn’t say anything. Leon didn’t need to know that. “Thought you could use a hand.” 

“ _ Ada? _ ” Leon looked very confused, still trying to catch up on what just happened. Ada smirked, he was cute like that.

Ada gently snagged his arm, pulling him away. He stumbled a bit at first and Ada ended up shouldering a bit of his weight as Leon recovered his bearings as they were walking away.

She quickly grabbed his arm and began leading him away from the crazy mess. Her downloaded layout of the building told her that there was a nice courtyard located somewhere in this building. It was a good defensible position and it would be much better than trying to flee into the open. Maria, or whatever that thing is, seemed to have trouble mobility in close quarters, the courtyard seemed like a good mix of open space and tight corners. Also, it was open enough for Leo to provide covering fire from where he was through the windows and the open roof.

Ada pulled Leon behind some rubble and checked behind them to see where Maria was. She could still hear her approaching, but she still seemed to be stumbling her way through the hallways. She suddenly felt Leon’s stare and she turned to meet him.

“What the  _ hell _ are you doing here?” Leon wheezed, out of breath. “Where’s Leo?”

She couldn’t answer that question right away, she knew how angry Leon was going to be when he found out. Nonetheless, Ada felt like it would be best to tell him the truth. She was pretty tired of lying to him anyway. She gave him a small knowing smile, which seemed to make him more worried. “Where did you think those shots came from?”

The spy watched her partner’s expression turn from concern to rage. It wasn’t often that Ada saw Leon genuinely angry. “You brought him  _ here? _ ” He fumed, face growing red. “Ada I  _ told  _ you to get him outta here!” He whipped his head to and fro, looking for Leo. “Where is he?”

“Out of the way.” Ada answered evasively. It would be better for both of them to pretend that Leo didn’t exist, Maria didn’t seem to realize that there was a third person in the party, as far as the spidery thing knew, it was only two of them. Ada wanted it to stay that way. 

“How could-” Leon looked like he wanted to continue ranting, but he suddenly fell crestfallen. He must have some mixed reservations about the whole thing. Ada wished she had something better to say, but she just didn’t know what. She knew he was angry and it was very well her fault, but Ada still felt that Leo should be given a chance. Nonetheless, the man did really look too tired, the years have not been kind for him. 

Before Ada could say anything, she heard the manic sounds of the approaching spider creature entering the courtyard. She pulled out her crossbow and looked to Leon, who was also much more alert now. “Let’s save the chat for later, shall we?” Ada told him. “You can get mad at me when we’re safe.”

“This isn’t over.” Leon replied indignantly, regaining some of his color. “We’re going to have a  _ long  _ talk later.”

“You can’t hide forever!” Maria gruttled, looking to be looking around. It looked like she knew that they were there, but couldn’t pinpoint it exactly. She seemed to have a taste for electronics, judging by how she was tasting the air.

She quietly took a position, aiming her crossbow at the woman’s head. If she could make this shot, perhaps it would be a quick fight. It didn’t turn out to be the case because Maria’s head snapped over to where she was and quickly scuttled over the foliage and rocks towards her.

Realizing this, Ada pushed Leon to get him to start running before sprinting over a different direction. She pulled out her grappling hook again and used it to swing over to a safer vantage point on one of the decorative rocks, barely dodging the swinging arms. As she caught her brother, Ada saw Leon making his way to the other side, behind Maria who was now looking at her. This thing indeed looked quite intimidating, face red with both anger and blood. 

“Who are  _ you?”  _ The creature-woman questioned in a low growl, looking somewhat disinterested. Ada knew that Leon was her real target; he had been involved in killing her father and Arias after all.

“Do you  _ really  _ want to know?” Ada replied defiantly, pointing her crossbow at her and firing a couple acid rounds.

This time, Maria was ready and struck its armored spider legs, breaking it before it could make any noticeable impact. One managed to hit her human leg, but she ripped it out callously before it had a chance to explode. It swiped at Ada’s foothold. The decorative rock began to crumble, which made Ada lose balance,, though she managed to swing away with her grappling hook before she hit the ground. Just as it was about to follow up and attack, Leon appeared behind it, having taken the opportunity to sneak up from behind, pumping a full shotgun blast directly into the spider-woman’s back. Maria shrieked in pain, the flesh of her back shredded by the shots. After a moment, the bloody wound oozed and pulsed, twisting again and ‘repairing’ the damage.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Ada overheard Leon swear, reloading his shotgun.

She turned around to face Leon, fangs bared, hissing. It didn’t look like she had any words or time for him because she charged at him with little warning. Seeing this, Ada tried to fire a few more shots at the squishy body but she just shrugged it off, her limbs absentmindedly taking a strategic place between her and Ada to block damage. Ada then heard a thundering shot and it hit one of the bony legs. It cracked appendages, but no weak spot damage.

“ _ -How strong is that thing?-”  _ Ada heard Leo exclaim over the comm, exasperated. 

There was no time to answer because Maria had started attacking Leon, who dove for cover behind some trees. Not sturdy cover because she quickly struck it all aside, prompting for Leon to keep moving. Meanwhile, Leo continued to keep trying to fire at Maria, cracking her limbs but not doing any real damage. He seemed a little frantic because he was missing more often. This situation was getting a little dicey. 

Ada looked into her belt, checking to see what items she had. It was then she noticed that she had a flask of oil she normally used to tip her arrows for her crossbow. Thinking fast, Ada threw the flask over Maria’s head, who didn’t seem to notice something so small and harmless.She whipped out her crossbow and shot it, right in the middle, shattering it and it’s contents over Maria. The oil splattered on the mutant’s head and shoulders, soaking her slightly. Maria was stunned for a moment, confused, but she just continued to try to attack Leon who had taken cover on one of the pillars. Just then, another shot rang out and it hit one of the limbs, cracking it in half, finally giving Ada a clear shot at her body.

Ada lit the arrow in her crossbow on fire, taking advantage of the opportunity to initiate her strategy. The arrow embedded itself on the fleshy stump of an arm and as soon as the fire made contact with the oil, it burst into flames. Maria shrieked as the fire engulfed her body, her clothes and flesh catching on fire. She backpedaled away, nearly stepping on Leon who rolled away to avoid the stumbling flaming beast. There was a strong scent of burning flesh in the air as the fire smothered Maria. She tried in vain to get it off, smacking into some of the foliage and setting it on fire too, though she seemed deeply affected by this attack. Maria cried and wailed for a while before eventually collapsing in a heap, finally consumed. The mutant made pitiful whimpers as the fire continued to rage, twitching slightly before finally quieting. It must have lasted only a couple minutes, but watching her die felt like an hour.

“ _ -Is it dead?-”  _ Leo asked over the comms, he was breathless, both relieved and somewhat excited.

“Hope so.” Ada responded as she came down from her perch to approach Leon, who was still staring at the burning body.

“That was too easy.” he muttered under his breath, glancing at Ada for her opinion.

“I know.” she whispered, making sure her comm was off so Leo didn’t hear. 

Just then, the two heard the sound of a grappling hook in action and they turned just in time to see Leo swinging into the inner courtyard from the open roof. He landed nearby and began rushing towards them. While his face was a bit pale and he seemed winded, he looked happy and excited. To him, this was his first real victory and a testament to his skills, Ada was honestly proud.

“Mom! Dad!” he called out to them. “Did you see that?” Leo slowed his approach when he noticed his father’s expression and meekly looked away.

“You  _ aren’t _ supposed to be here, young man.” Leon growled slightly. Leo flinched at his voice, looking down at the ground. Leon turned to glare at Ada. “You were  _ supposed  _ to escape with your mother.”

“I-I..” Leo stuttered, his voice small and apologetic. He looked at his mother for help. “I just...wanted to help.”

“I know you’re mad.” Ada pitched in, touching Leon’s shoulder. “But Leo wanted to help. And he did.” She saw Leon pondering and she continued. “I don’t think you’d still be standing if Leo didn’t snipe that woman’s arm off.”

Leon looked like he was about to retort, but he snapped his mouth shut and was silent for a moment as he looked at the two. She knew what they said probably wouldn’t make Leon any less angrier, but Ada hoped at least that he would go easy on Leo at least. Leon just wanted to protect his son. But at the same time, Ada sympathized with how Leo felt, to feel so strongly about wanting to do something to help. She was certain that Leon would be able to come to realize and understand that too. Though maybe there would have been a better way to overcome this conflict, Ada just kept finding herself swayed by these two boys.

“I’m  _ not  _ happy that you are here.  _ Both  _ of you.” Leon finally said, giving them both disapproving looks. But then a small smile appeared on his face as he reached out to his son, putting a hand on his shoulder. “But...I have to admit those were nice shots.” He paused. “Good job, son.”

A smile formed on Leo’s face as he looked up at his father. “T-thanks, Dad.”

Ada breathed a sigh of relief to herself, quiet enough that they won’t notice. She was just glad that the tension between them had more or less melted away, though she was certain Leon was going to give her and Leo an earful about this later. Ada took a step beside them and the two turned to look at her, both with tired smiles on her face. Ada was a little overwhelmed by this sight. This...this was a picturesque sight, to see her two boys like this.

The touching moment was interrupted by the sound of a strange mix of coughs, groans and growls coming from somewhere behind them. The three turned their heads towards the still burning body to see that it was oozing some sort of mix between some greenish ooze and blood. 

“Į̶̒ ̷̯͐w̷̲͑ȯ̷̤n̵͋ͅ'̸͎͐t̵͕̊.” Maria groaned, her words barely intelligible. Her charred human body stood up, her limbs snapping off from her back, blood and goo literally dripping off her deceased flesh. Parts of her face had not yet burned, but her eyes were bloodshot, standing out in stark contrast to the disgusting weave of burnt skin and muscle.

“It’s still  _ alive? _ ” squeaked Leo, taking a step back. He looked just as surprised and frightened. 

Leon had stepped forward, in front of Ada and Leo, stretching one of his hands out behind to push Leo behind him. 

It was then Ada noticed that Maria had something in her hand, it looked like a vial, or rather...a syringe. It looked damaged, but whatever was inside was still intact. Oh _ no _ , she definitely knew where this was going. Before Ada could react, with the last of her fading consciousness, what was left of Maria stabbed the thing into her stump of an arm before crumbling before them.The three starred in dead silence for a moment, wondering what exactly happened. Suddenly, the charred body began to bubble, oozing more of that strange liquid. There were more sickening cracks as the body began to expand, the flesh pulsing angrily.

“Leo.” Ada looked to her son, who didn’t seem able to peel his eyes away from the mutations. “Leo,  _ run. _ ” She tried again, voice more louder.

Leo didn’t move, still too frozen sheer terror to move. 

“ _ Leo _ !” Leon’s booming voice snapped Leo out of his starstruck daze and he looked at his parents, shivering slightly. “Get out of here!”

“B-but…” He stammered, unable to form words. The poor kid seemed overwhelmed. Ada supposed this was a bit different than sniping at a safe distance from a scope. This was probably a bit  _ too  _ real, even for her.

“Leo,  _ run _ .” repeated Ada fiercely. Slowly, he turned to look at his mother, a look of recognition on his face. And he finally got his body moving, pulling out his grappling hook to flee the way he came, nearly dropping it as he tried to get his fingers to work.

Sensitive to the movement, a strange bony looking tentacle suddenly shot out from the bubbling mass. Leon was the one who reacted first.

“No you don’t!” He shouted, taking out his shotgun to fire several rounds into the tentacle, severing it and stopping it from grabbing Leo, who managed to escape unharmed. Ada glanced to where Leo escaped and spotted him giving them both a desperate look before fleeing upon meeting her gaze.

It took a few more seconds, but the squirming mass Maria had finally begun forming a coherent, somewhat recognizable shape. Her new mutation looked like a very fleshy-looking spider, but with an upside human head. Her eyes rumbled and ruptured, coated with fleshy little tendrils and teeth, having multiplied into pimple-like formations. The mouth had nearly doubled in size, the lips and mouth opening up much like a flower, serrated teeth wiggling around in the gooey, burnt flesh.The extra limbs had returned but they looked more like arms and legs pointing inwards towards her body, now much more tentacle-like than sharp spear-like structures they were before. They snaked out, curling around the burning foliage and the building, almost molding around it.

“ᴛ̴̼̽ʜ̶͇̿ɪ̶͍̇ꜱ̶͕͌ ̸̭͝ɪ̸͕̓ꜱ̷̣̏ɴ̷̠̇'̶͓͌ᴛ̸̞̑ ̵͖̌ᴛ̶̛͍ʜ̷͖͑ᴇ̸̹̉ ̴̝̉ᴇ̶͇ɴ̷̝͒ᴅ̷̰̈́” The mass shrieked. Whatever humanity Maria had was now gone. 

“They’re never dead the first time.” Ada commented, pulling out her crossbow again.

“It would be better if they were.” replied Leon, holding his shotgun steady.

“You know things are never that easy.” Ada gave him a smile. “Ready for one last round, rookie?”

“ _ Huh. _ ” huffed Leon, amused. “Didn’t know I was still a rookie.”

“You always were in my eyes.” Ada didn’t mean that in a disrespectful way. She could have sworn she heard Leon laugh.

Their banter was cut short by the raging tentacles finally making their first move. They splayed out, striking at them. Leon and Ada dodged them, eventually having to go back to back to cover each other’s weaknesses and gunning down the encroaching flailing limbs with all they had. Clearly just deflecting the tentacles wasn’t going to defeat this monster, whatever ones they cut down just kept coming back.

“Don’t suppose you have a plan?” Leon inquired as he took out a knife to slice some approaching fleshy appendages, saving his ammo.

“I thought you weren’t the type to think too far ahead.” replied Ada. Despite what she said, Ada’s eyes were scanning the scene, trying to find a weakness of some sort. She glanced back to where Leo was. 

“I suppose that’s true, but this really isn’t the time to be hiding things, Ada.” muttered Leon, sounding slightly annoyed. 

Ada reached into her arsenal and brought out a flash bang she had stored in there. She flung it towards whatever was left of Maria, jerking out her hand to get Leon to turn away. The bad part about having that many eyes was that it probably didn’t feel nice to have a flashbang explode in your face. The monster cried out in surprise, stilling for a moment, before beginning to trash even harder than before, movements becoming much more wild and unpredictable now that it’s sight was impaired. She was just about to back up to put some distance when a flailing tentacle blindsided her and sent her crashing through some foliage and into one of the supporting columns. 

There was a strong metallic taste on her tongue as pain blossomed all across in her body, especially her knee. The way she had hit the column felt like it crushed something in her leg, probably not a good sign.

“Ada!” She heard Leon call out to her, voice tight with panic.

_ “Such a gentleman.”  _ Ada thought, as she struggled to regain her bearings. 

Dazed, Ada fought hard not to lose consciousness as she dragged herself to her feet. She noticed that her communication device had fallen out of her ear, but there wasn’t any time to look for where it had fallen. Leon’s surprised shout gave Ada enough strength to drag herself through the foliage and back into the center of the battle. She blearily looked up and saw that Leon had been unlucky enough to get snagged by the blind beast.

“ʏ̴ᴏ̷ᴜ̶.̵ ̸ʏ̴ᴏ̵ᴜ̵ ̴ᴡ̶ᴇ̶ʀ̵ᴇ̶ ̸ᴛ̴ʜ̷ᴇ̵ ̷ᴏ̶ɴ̴ᴇ̸.̵” It sounded like Maria still had some awareness after all. “ᴀ̸̱͆ʀ̷̭͊ɪ̷͔̐ᴀ̸̲̚ꜱ̷̬̄...ᴍ̶ʏ̷ ̴ꜰ̴ᴀ̷ᴛ̷ʜ̵ᴇ̶ʀ̸.̴.̴.̵ʏ̴ᴏ̵ᴜ̸ ̷ᴛ̷ᴏ̸ᴏ̴ᴋ̵ ̸ᴛ̵ʜ̷ᴇ̷ᴍ̷ ̸ᴀ̶ᴡ̵ᴀ̵ʏ̵ ̷ꜰ̷ʀ̸ᴏ̸ᴍ̶ ̴ᴍ̷ᴇ̷!̸” It sounded like she was wailing.

Before Leon could make any response, the tentacle around him just wrapped tighter and tighter, making him cry out in pain. Ada willed herself to stand up, but her head felt like she had been dunked underwater, everything felt so heavy. 

“Leon.” She muttered, trying to stand up.

“ _ Hey!”  _ A voice shouted angrily.

Ada turned her head, breathing in relief as she recognized the familiar shape perching from the skylight above. Leo was crouching there, something heavy on his shoulder, pointed straight at Maria. 

“Smile, you overgrown ugly shit!” snarled Leo, shooting the rocket launcher straight at Maria.

The projectile hit the target even before anyone reacted or realized what had happened. While Ada didn’t see the explosion, she knew that it had hit it’s mark because there was a scream, a different sort of scream. Whatever zombie monster Maria had become, it didn’t stand a chance against a trusty rocket launcher. Just as she had suspected and why she had Leo lug around the giant case from earlier. Ada had hoped that a situation would have never come for them to use it, but she was thankful that she took the time to debrief Leo on a code word, ‘Run’ and how to use the launcher.

Ada ducked when one of the tentacles came her way. Her headache was finally starting to clear up when she noticed Leon being shaken around like a soda can. She reached over to her belt and grabbed her knife. Ada had to cut him loose before he got thrown down.

“ɪ̴͉̆ ̸̠͌ᴡ̷̯͗ɪ̵̘͑ʟ̴̩͋ʟ̴̛͎ ̸͚͆ɴ̸̙͝ᴏ̷̠̓ᴛ̶͒ͅ ̷̙̕ʟ̵̓͜ᴇ̷̥̃ᴛ̷̖͌ ̴̤͘ɪ̷̙͐ᴛ̴̦͠ ̶͖̀ᴇ̵̡̑ɴ̸̠̓ᴅ̶̞ ̴̝̚ᴛ̴̘̓ʜ̷̳̔ɪ̷͔̐ꜱ̵̻͌ ̵̗̈ᴡ̴̽ͅᴀ̵̐ͅʏ̶͕̚.̵͂͜” The way Maria said this, it sounded almost peaceful and calm. A tranquil anger.

“No, it won’t.” Ada hissed, though she wasn’t sure if Maria heard, but she didn’t care. With a sharp flick of her hand, Ada threw the knife at the tentacle, hoping that it would cut through and release Leon.

Just as the knife pierced the tentacle, Leon suddenly made a strangled cry before being dropped to the ground. To her horror, Ada noticed the blood quickly beginning to pool underneath him. Despite the aches, she gathered herself quickly to scramble to Leon’s side.

“Leon!” Ada wheezed, ignoring the blood dripping from her own lips, willing him to answer, but he didn’t respond. In fact, he didn’t move at all...was he even breathing?

Ada knelt over him, licking away the blood on her lips, noticing the large punch wounds in Leon’s chest and abdomen. Her eyes traced the wounds to the now dead tentacle, which had horrifying looking bony spikes protruding from the ugly flesh. 

“Dad!” Leo had dropped in next to them. He froze when he saw his father on the ground, bloody wounds and all. “..Da-” Leo tried to say again, but it sounded like he was choking. “This...this can’t be happening…” The poor teen looked ready to pass out.

“No. It won’t.” Ada avowed strongly. Not wasting any more time, she plucked her first aid spray from her belt and turned Leon over so she could spray it onto the wounds. Leon’s face didn’t make any reaction to what she did, but the wounds certainly looked a bit better after being mended. Despite this, Leon did not open his eyes. It looked like this wasn't something a magical spray or herb will fix. 

In the background, Maria continued to trash about, grumbling and wailing something incoherent. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that they really couldn’t stay here. Ada reached over and touched her son’s arm, spooking him slightly, but it grabbed his attention.

“Leo, we’re getting out of here.  _ Now. _ ” Ada leaned over and pulled the unconscious Leon over her shoulder, gesturing for Leo to do the same.

Together, they managed to drag Leon out of the courtyard and out of Maria’s violent thrashing. Ada noticed that she didn’t sound as manic as she did before, it wouldn’t be long before she died from the wound. She wouldn’t survive long, and Ada was perfectly fine with that. 

They managed to make it to the front entrance area and were making their way down the steps when Ada’s busted knee finally buckled and she ended up falling to the ground, rolling on the steps a bit. Leo had managed to grab his father in time so he didn’t hit the ground with the same intensity she did, but he made a sharp squeak upon seeing her in pain.

“Mom!” He faltered, his voice cracking.

“I’m alright.” She made an effort to keep a calm face, bringing herself back to her feet in an awkward stance.“Your father needs help.”

“I-I…” Leo began to stammer, glancing back at his mother and his father. His face was going pale, as he started breathing a little quicker. She noticed that his eyes had begun watering. 

Ada tiptoed around Leon and to her son’s side, patting his back soothingly. She honestly didn’t know what to say to make it all better; to be frank, it was hard not to get overwhelmed by this situation herself. Her heart ached, it was sickening to see Leon like this. It was like that time he got shot, but worse. He had been bleeding out then, but at least the wound was mostly superficial. This seemed much more serious.

“Leon!” Ada snapped her head, surprised to hear another voice beside their own.

Out of reflex, Ada pulled out her gun to confront the newcomer, but she lowered her gun when she realized who was approaching them. A scuffed looking woman, covered in sores and bandages came over to them, limping slightly. It was Helena Harper, the other agent Leon was supposed to have met with. 

“W-what the hell happened in there?” Helena was confused, looking at Ada, then at Leo, then Leon on the ground, her expression grew more serious with each look.“Leo? What are you doing here?” Leo didn’t respond, looking like his brain was still catching up.

“Helena Harper.” greeted Ada cautiously. From what Leon had told her, Helena seemed pretty cool with her, but it never hurt to be too careful. She was  _ still  _ a government agent after all; she wasn’t Leon.

“You’re...Ada, right?” Helena asked, slightly guarded. Helena took a hesitant step forward, looking at Leon on the ground. Noticing this, Ada stepped aside, moving next to Leo so Helena could get clear access to him. 

After a moment of staring, Helena rushed over to Leon’s side, having a look of frustration on her face. “Leon? Can you hear me?” The agent asked, but Leon made no movement.

“Is he alive?” Leo finally managed to say, his voice quiet, shaking a little. 

Helena looked up, eyes meeting Leon’s frightened ones.“Yes.” She affirmed, though the tone of her voice suggested she was unsure.

“Can you call in a medical chopper?” questioned Ada. There was no time to waste.

Helena looked up from where she was kneeling. “The comms aren’t working. There was evac here, but I split from them because I thought Leon needed backup after-” 

“You should be able to now.” she sharply replied. She was getting impatient, Leon needed help right now.

Helena gave Ada an incredulous look, but after a moment, she tried opening up her comms from her communication device and was surprised to see that it was working. Ada let Helena call in a chopper and turned to her son, who was now staring blankly at the ground, frozen in time.

“Leo?” She gently asked, but Leo didn’t really acknowledge her.

Between Leo becoming shell shocked and Leon lay dying on the ground before her, Ada felt an incredible weight of dizziness begin to set in. She was used to dire situations, she’s been in the all the time. But this was different, it felt like her world was being torn in two. Ada just felt regret. Regret for bringing Leo here, regret for not being able to save Leon in time, regret that she even..

“Medical evac is on their way.” Helena spoke up, still holding her communication device. The woman eyed Ada. “You better scram, the bigshots won’t like you here.”

Ada began to stand up, but immediately her hand was grabbed by Leo, frightened. “Mom?” 

Ada’s eyes met Leo’s and she just felt a frustrating bile well up in her heart. She couldn’t just leave like this, not when Leon was dying, not when Leo needed her support. Her family needed her, but if she didn’t go now, she’d likely get caught. And then she wouldn’t be able to do anything. For the first time, Ada wished she wasn’t a mercenary and on the government’s top wanted list.

“I’ll take care of them, you won’t be able to visit the hospital if you’re caught.” reasoned Helena, trying to seem friendly, though her expressions were serious. She typed something on her device and a little rumble and Ada realized Helena had sent her coordinates. “That’s the hospital we’re going to.”

Ada felt Leo’s grip on her hand tightened but she continued to match Helena’s gaze. “I don’t suppose there’s a catch?”

“Leon’s my friend. I care about him and he cares about you.” Helena said simply. Ada wasn’t sure what to think of that answer, but it was satisfactory.

“You’re leaving?” Leo said disbelief, standing up. 

He had such a sad look on his face, it sort of just melted Ada’s heart. She realized in that moment that despite Leo’s size and age, he was still that baby she left behind, the young son she loved. Memories of that happy child flitted past as Ada leaned over to give him a tight hug.

“I’m sorry...I can’t stay here, but I won’t go. Not this time.” She told him. I  _ promise. _ ” 

Leo looked like he wanted to object, but his lips quivered and started to tear up. He hugged his mother back and for a moment, the two just soaked in each other’s presence. Tired, bruised, battered, and broken by the whole ordeal. It took some time for Leo to let go, it was the sound of approaching helicopter blades that caused Ada to let go first. She gave him a strong last squeeze before letting go. As one final act, she ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead. Then she quickly turned her attention to the man on the ground, the man she loved. She leaned down, pressing her forehead against his.

“Leon.” She said his name quietly, struggling to keep her composure. “Don’t die.”

Before the helicopters could get any closer, Ada turned and quickly hopped away from her grappling hook, looking back to see Leo crying and a dying man.

* * *

-~*~-

Ada had patched up her knee the best she could. Thankfully, it seemed bruised and not broken. While it hurt, she could still walk after some minor treatment. A doctor would likely recommend several days of rest, but Ada didn’t have time to wait. She had to go to that hospital, she had to find them. Even though she was running on literal fumes, her desire to see her family outweighed all physical ailments. 

Helena’s coordinates have been immensely helpful and finding the secret government hospital building wasn’t too much trouble. She landed her own aircraft in an undisclosed location nearby and quietly made her way through the compound to find where Leon and her son were. The people here seemed very occupied with treating the incoming injured and sick, so it gave Ada tons of openings to slip by unnoticed. The hustle and bustle also made it child’s play to pinpoint where Leon and Leo were.

Leon had been assigned to a special VIP room up in the higher levels of the hospital, where he would be given careful attention and treatment by the best of the staff there. It only made sense, Leon was the government’s top dog, losing him would be devastating. Ada never found herself agreeing with the US government most of the time, but this was one of the few times their interests aligned. Leo was being treated there too, though it looked like he only suffered minor scrapes and bruises, to her immense relief. 

When Ada had entered the little hospital room from the window, she noticed how quiet and dark it was inside the room. The first thing she noticed was the still form of Leon, hooked up to various machines which despite her extensive knowledge, didn’t know how to read. She walked over to the bed, her eyes gazing over Leon. 

“Mom?” A small voice asked, barely above a whisper. Ada looked up to see her son, curled up in a ball in a chair pulled up next to his father on the opposite side of the bed. Upon seeing her, he had gotten up to rush to her. “Mom! T-they said Dad won’t wake up!” His eyes were shadowed, it looked like he had been crying.

“I…” Ada tried to say, but her voice got stuck. She had nothing she could say; her own feelings were tangled in knots. Instead she just looked at Leo, her own face darkened by her own sadness. “I’m...sorry.” 

That’s all she could say.

It didn’t sound like the answer Leo wanted to hear and he hung his head, covering his face with his hands. Ada herself started to feel a bit weak as she turned to look at Leon once more. 

“What’s going to happen now?” She thought bitterly, her sorrow framed by the rhythmic beeps of a machine she can’t read and the sounds of her son’s quiet sobs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course, it isn't Resident Evil if someone didn't have a rocket launcher by the end. It felt kinda cheesy to put that whole sequence in, but I thought it was accurate to the Resident Evil experience. It just seemed right to have a scene like that, even if I might have not written it all too well (I always have trouble with action scenes). I also hope that Maria's distorted dialogue wasn't too annoying, I wanted to find a way to visualize her monster dialogue in word form and I thought it was kinda fun to hide it behind the scary font text.
> 
> Small trivia fact: Maria's mutant zombie form is based on a spider and the reason why comms stopped working was because she had some influence over electricity and technology, a reference to the fact that some spiders are able to ride/sense electric currents. It's not really that important to the story, I only used it as a plot device so Leon couldn't call in back up. Also, as another trivia, Leo's about to graduate high school at this time, so he's only a little younger than Claire in RE2. 
> 
> The story is drawing to a close; I'm not sure what you all will think of the ending I have planned up, but it's something that I had planned since the beginning. The adventure is almost over, I hope you stick around! The next two chapters will be posted at the same time, stay tuned!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is, the elusive final chapter! It took a while to compile together because I was technically posting two chapters at once, the last chapter and the epilogue stories. I'll leave my thoughts and comments for the end of the story, I hope y'all enjoy!

“This isn’t fucking fair!” Leo was absolutely fuming, pacing back and force in the room he had been calling ‘home’ for the past half a year. He glared down at the floor then up at his mother, who was idly standing nearby. “ _ How _ could they do this? People deserve to know what happened! Dad didn’t risk his life only for it to get covered up! ”

“This is just what they do.” Ada commented stoically, carefully trying to tiptoe around Leo’s outburst of anger. “The same thing happened in Raccoon City.”

“I can’t believe this!” he continued to growl, pacing back and forth, practically burning a hole into the ground with his repetitive movements. “Dad’s in a coma because of this and they fucking  _ lie  _ about what happened?”

Ada tightened her expression. She honestly sympathized with how he was feeling. Ever since Leo had been given a clear bill of health, he had been stuffed to a government housing where he has been living under supervision for the past half year. He wasn’t allowed to go back to his home nor stay with Sherry or Claire, even though he was an adult now. Even though Helena had tried to insist that Leo was just a civilian caught in the mess, the fact that he was found with Leon seemed evidence enough for the dogs higher up to want to keep him under surveillance. Ada felt like it had less to do with Leo’s knowledge about it all and more to do with the fact that Leo was  _ Leon’s son.  _ She had been watching them carefully and digging around when she needed to; it seemed that they were pretty interested in grooming Leo into a ‘second Leon’ of some sort. 

While Ada felt inclined to tell Leo about what they were doing, it didn’t feel right to keep giving Leo reason to get even more heated about the government right now. Of course, it didn’t feel right to keep this information either, but Leo had taken such a personal offense when he found out that the government had made a nice cover story for the whole DC incident. In Leo’s eyes, that had undermined all the work his father had done, and that made him furious. 

Even more troubling than all this was that Leon had not woken up yet.

Supposedly, it had something to do with the mysterious new virus strain that had been created by Maria. Now code named the M-Virus, Leon had been infected with it with a different strain of it in the final battle. Now he just wouldn’t wake up, even though his puncture wounds had long since been healed in his sleep. 

Unable to abandon her son in this crisis, Ada had spent the last few months hanging around the best she could. Of course she would still have to pop in and check in every so often, but she had declined to take any assignments right now. Now that Leon was...not around at the moment, Ada felt like it was her duty to stand in, even though she was never really good at the whole talk-about-feelings department. At least, her presence would be comforting to Leo, she thought. 

“ _ Ugh.  _ I hate this.” Leo finally seemed to be calming down from this hour’s rant. He sat down on the cramped bed in the room and looked to his mother, his fierce dark eyes peeking through his curtain of black hair. 

It looked like he was expecting her to have an answer, but Ada only gave him a sideways look of sympathy. She wanted to say something, anything really, but overall Ada’s mind was such a cluttered mess, Ada wasn’t sure if she would be able to say anything that wouldn’t make things worse. Realizing he wasn’t going to get anything out of his mother Leo just looked down at his hands, grumbling a bit more, looking despondent. 

There was a familiar rumble of her communication device alerting her of an incoming message. She scowled inwardly as she brought it out, looking at it with a slight look of disdain. Ada knew she couldn’t ignore the Organization for much longer. For the past half year, the folks up there had been satisfied with a report of the incident and were content to leave her be, but recently they had been pestering her with matters she really didn’t want to deal with right now.

Leo noticed her looking on her device and seemed to brighten up, if only slightly. “Is it...your spy work?” He didn’t sound annoyed.

“You could say that.” Ada answered, flicking her device shut and putting it away. 

He stared at her for a moment, his eyes lingering on where she had put away the device. He then turned away, trying to act disinterested. “You don’t have to stay here, you know. I’m fine on my own.”

Hearing that made Ada a little angry. “You’re not fine.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll be okay.” Leo didn’t turn to look at her.

Ada gave him a frown. She could put up an argument about why this wasn’t okay, but after a moment of contemplation, she sighed. There wasn’t any use to try tossing words at each other right now. “Fine. I’ll be back.” It was about time she checked in with the Organization anyway.

She waited for a second, seeing if Leo had anything else to say, but he busied himself with playing with the old stuffed lion toy the government had allowed him to retrieve from his home. Breathing deeply, Ada left through the open window, using her grappling hook to swing away.

Honestly, Ada had foreseen that the DC incident would change Leo, for better or for worse. But what she hadn’t really expected was for Leo to grow more withdrawn and distant. At first Ada had believed that it was just trauma and grief, but Ada soon realized that it had more to do with Leo trying to act more mature and adult-like. She didn’t know what to make of it honestly, but he had definitely committed himself to the idea of being independent. Which made his current living condition frustrating for him.

She climbed onto the rooftop of this government building and satisfied that she was in a secure location, Ada brought out her device and spoke into it.

“Speaking.” 

“ _ -It has been a while.- _ ” The emotionless voice greeted her in a garbled tone, masking whoever was on the other side. “ _ -How is the kid?-”  _

“I’m sure that’s not why you called.” replied Ada casually, though inside she was unnerved. She had never directly mentioned Leo's existence to the Organization, yet it seems like they knew after all. The spy should have figured as much, it was hard to hide anything from them. She  _ had  _ been sloppy the past year, ever since the incident. But still, them knowing of Leo’s existence...

“ _ -We need you on assignment. Sending you coordinates now.-”  _ The voice had no regard on whether or not she agreed, but Ada supposed she had no choice now. “ _ -You should be interested.-”  _

Checking the coordinates that were sent to her device, Ada grimaced, annoyed to see that the location sent was somewhere out of the country. Details about how long this assignment would take was uncertain, but Ada guessed at least a month, if not more. While she was unhappy with the location, what caught her interest was the details of the mission. The organization  _ was  _ right, she  _ was  _ interested. 

The target of the mission was a lab studying and developing the coveted M-Virus, or at least some strain of it. It looked like there was  _ still _ a production line somewhere for this virus. While Maria Gomez was definitely dead, Ada couldn’t overlook the idea that someone else might be using her concoction for other purposes. Would there be a cure somewhere too?

_ “-Well?-”  _ The voice grumbled. 

“Understood.” Ada replied, shutting off the device, slightly annoyed. 

For a moment, she gazed over the blinking lights of the city, sort of just soaking in the atmosphere. It was not unlike the time she came to visit Leon and Leo on his birthday so long ago. The memory was so soft and sweet, it all seemed so foreign now in the chaos of the world she lived in now. Maybe if Ada thought hard enough, she would be able to bring herself back to that time. She chuckled bitterly to herself. Ada was never one for whimsical imagination, but it felt appropriate to at least try now.

After some time, Ada sneaked back into the government house that Leo was staying in to tell him what was going on. He was on a laptop, typing away before getting startled by her entrance.

“Mom?” He blinked. “You’re back already?”

“Not interrupting anything, am I?” 

“No, not really.” He put the laptop aside on his bed, looking a little exasperated. “Aunt Sherry was just telling me to hang in there. She said she’d get me out of here.”

“Oh?” Ada raised her eyebrow in mild surprise. 

That seemed like good news. Ada had been aware that Sherry and Claire had raised hell around the government, trying to find ways to make Leo’s situation a bit easier. Ada herself had only been able to manipulate some things like making sure Leo had his own room, but it was sort of irritating how close an eye they had been keeping him. They seem really married to the idea of having another brilliant agent like Leon. 

“I don’t know. She’s told me about her time in here and...” shrugged Leo, looking a little depressed. “...It feels like I’ll just be stuck here forever.”

“They’ll figure something out.” offered Ada, though she didn’t sound particularly hopeful. She was never one not to say things she believed might not happen, but it felt like Leo needed to hear it.

“Sure.” A small silence followed as Leo noticed the change in his mother’s expression. “...Mom?”

“I have a new assignment. I’ve been putting it off, but I can’t ignore it anymore. I may not be back for a while.” Ada said, watching her son’s face carefully. 

“Really?” 

“It’s not really good timing, but it’s important.” explained Ada, feeling the most guilty she’s ever been. Leo looked at her blankly, it almost seemed like he didn’t believe her. “It has something to do with the outbreak, I’ve been tasked with checking it out.”

Ada  _ really  _ didn’t have to mention that last part, but it felt like she owed Leo a better explanation for her departure, especially since she had promised him that she wouldn’t leave this time. It felt like she was betraying Leo and Leon doing this, but at the same time, if she found a cure to this virus maybe Leon would wake up and this nightmare would be over. She didn’t mention it to Leo, not wanting to give him false hope.

“Oh.” Leo seemed curious.

“I’ve said too much.” Ada shut down any more questions Leo may have. Leo looked disappointed. “I’ll be back. I’m...sorry.” Saying these words felt like she was swallowing poison. 

Leo watched his mother with sad eyes before standing up to give her a hug. “I’ll be okay, Mom.” He squeezed her a little tighter. “I’m sorry too.”

Letting go this time was much harder. Ada was overwhelmed by this feeling of sadness and guilt as she patted Leo’s head as she turned around. His head wasn’t as silky and soft as it was as a child. He was taller than her and she needed to reach up to pat him. She hated leaving Leo alone like this, especially when Leo wasn’t really in a happy place right now. But if there was still any chance of a cure, Ada would find it. 

Getting back to the swing of things was easy, but Ada never wanted to stay for very long. She was eager to return to Leo’s side, but she also wanted to spend time to see if she could find a cure. Priorities in shambles, despite her professionalism, it was a little hard to concentrate when she was so personally involved in the whole situation. Even though it was normally protocol not to make too much contact via comms, Ada made sure to send one-way messages back to Leo, just with some generic words of support and to let him know she was still alive. She honestly wasn’t sure that he was getting them, but sending them put Ada at ease.

She had infiltrated the little underground lab there and found hired scientists working on the M-Virus. They seemed more interested in developing the virus for the sake of science than being involved in a sinister plot. Regardless, Ada wouldn’t let it continue, even if the Organization had only wanted her to steal a few samples. 

During her time there, Ada managed to find old journals belonging to Maria, who had attacked DC in some twisted form of revenge against the government for the death of her father and Arias. She had paid out these scientists to do their research, even after her death. Even though she had died at the end of the outbreak, it seems like all she wanted to do was grab some important documents and get them back to the lab here, something which she did succeed in. Ada wasn’t one to root for the bad guy, especially the one who had uprooted her personally, but it did feel like Maria had come out of this victorious. There was still quite a bit of funds to continue the project, but Ada made sure that a few accidents happened here and there. Maybe the lab exploded, it was hard to say. 

Unfortunately, there was no cure, no vaccine either. The virus was still too early in it’s development and not even the creators had a cure for it. Disappointing, but Ada had suspected it from the beginning. In the best case scenario, Ada would’ve found the magical cure and Leon would wake up, then maybe they would all be able to return to some form of normalcy. But it looked like it wouldn’t be the case. Not this time. 

Ada had turned in her report to the Organization, who was happy with her work and she returned to the United States as quickly as she could, to return to her son’s side. A few months had passed since then, not too long in the grand scheme of things, but it was still a decent amount of time regardless. She was slightly worried that Leo might not be there when she got back, or maybe he changed, but Leo was eagerly waiting by the window when she arrived. 

“Mom! You’re back!” Leo approached her excitedly as she slipped through the window.

“It was inevitable.” She gave him a smile, glad to see him smiling. It was honestly a relief to see him again after so long. He approached her and gave her a hug. It was a little overwhelming, since Leo towered over her a little.

“I got your messages.” exclaimed Leo. He looked strangely excited. “They said they would monitor all my messages, but they couldn’t read yours.”

“That’s the point.” Ada replied warmly, happy to see that her messages had gotten through after all. She had spent sleepless nights thinking about if they didn’t go through. It was great to see Leo so cheerful, but there was something odd about it all.

She must have made a funny face because Leo’s expression changed. He had been so happy, excited, but now he had a very serious look on his face. The young man gave his mother a look as he took a moment to collect his thoughts, visibly trying to build up the courage to ask her something. 

“Mom…” Leo managed to say, meeting her confused gaze.“I...I’ve been thinking…” He fiddled with his own hands. “I…”

“I won’t know what you want if you can’t say it.” Ada didn’t want to sound mean, but Leo’s hesitation was making her a little antsy.

“You know...I wanted to become like Dad when I grew up. But...being an agent is not what I thought it would be.” Leo looked upset. Ada flinched. Had he figured out what the government wanted to do with him? 

“It had never been easy.” Ada commented, unsure where this conversation was going.

Leo finally straightened up, finally deciding to spit out what he wanted to say. “Mom, I want you to take me with you.”

Hearing this, Ada instantly frowned. To Leo, she must have looked angry because Leo seemed a little nervous seeing her expression, but still continued to look back at her evenly. Ada finally understood what Leon had felt when Leo had been so gung-ho about becoming an agent back then. She had gotten both sides of the story, but had sort of ended up taking Leo’s side. It wasn’t surprising that Leo had been disillusioned by his dream, but becoming an agent for the  _ Organization  _ in the mercenary world wasn’t exactly much better.

“No.” Ada said bluntly. “Your life is here.”

“ _ Mom.  _ I have  _ no  _ life here.” Leo’s voice cracked at this statement, his voice full of emotion. “I don’t want to be trapped here for the rest of my life, being monitored like this….I…” He shook his head. “I can’t go back anymore...being normal…” He choked out a chuckle. “...it’s impossible.”

Leo was hurting here, Ada knew that. She knew how difficult it had been for Leon to be coerced into this life after the events of Raccoon City. Despite his autonomy, Leon could have never escaped the chains of the government he had been forced into. But was the underworld  _ any  _ better? Was that  _ really  _ a place for Leo, her son? Leo was hurting here, but could she knowingly bring Leo to  _ that  _ world?

“Leo, you  _ don’t _ know what you’re asking.” Ada sharply told him. “The world I come from isn’t for you.”

“I’ve thought about this the whole time you’ve been gone. For a long time actually.” confessed Leo. “I know life won’t be easy there, but I can’t live like this anymore.” He paused for a moment. “I know they want to make me like Dad and...I can’t...Not like this…” Leo looked and sounded so distressed, but so did Ada.

“Leo. You  _ do  _ realize that entering this world means that you can  _ never  _ return? You might never see your friends again, Claire, Sherry...” Ada said sternly. “You might not even see your father again.”

Leo froze at the last part of that statement. It wasn’t  _ really  _ the truth, but it was just the worst case scenario. In all honesty, Ada herself had taken her meetings with Leon for granted; it always felt like there would be a ‘next time’ for them. In reality, any meeting could be their last. She didn’t want to bring out such an ultimatum, but Ada needed to tell him how serious his decision was. 

“I know who I’ll be leaving behind...And Dad?...He isn’t going to wake up is he?” He finally asked, a little quiet, but very sad. 

Ada’s heart sank, feeling an icy chill crawl up her spine. This was a possibility she had  _ always  _ pondered, but it was different hearing it out loud. “You don’t know that.” She scolded him, her voice wavering slightly,

“I-I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean that.” Leo quickly spoke, looking guilty. “I just...Even if I do stay here and become an agent, I can’t work with the people who do this. Dad might be okay with that life, but I’m not. This is not where I want my life to end up.”

“Leo.” Ada was getting a little desperate, a little frustrated. She understood his reasoning; honest she did. But she just  _ couldn’t  _ let him. She just couldn’t. 

Leo looked at her, his eyes glinting with a hint of sorrow. “Mom... I’m not Leon you know?” 

Ada blinked, a bit taken aback by the statement.

The words resonated within Ada. It was like she finally realized it this whole time. For most of Leo’s life, Ada had made sure not to put her own ideals into Leo. He was still her son, but Ada was alright with whatever Leon decided. But all this time, Ada had just wanted Leo to turn out like Leon. She chuckled slightly to herself. Leo was a lot more like her after all. 

“Leo, I can’t put you in any more danger.” Ada said softly. “Your father-”

“Mom. I’m asking you as Leo Wong, not as your son.” He said cooly, though it seemed he had mixed emotions himself. “ _ Please.  _ Take me with you.”

_ ‘Leon, what should I do?’  _ She thought, feeling exasperated by the situation. 

She could decline and leave Leo stuck here, but she was certain Leo would feel betrayed by this decision. Plus, it looked like something happened while she was gone, something that made Leo want to run away from that life. Could she, in good conscience, leave him to suffer his fate here?

But how could she willingly drag him into the harsh world underneath? Where bloodshed was rife and you were forced to lie to survive? It didn’t seem like the life for Leo and honestly, Ada thought she had done her best to make sure Leo had stayed on  _ this  _ side. But it seems that Ada didn’t know Leo as well as she thought. 

On the surface, Leo’s expressions always had a ‘Leon’ look to them. That sort of ‘good kid’ type of face that made it easy for other people to trust him. But in actuality, he looked a lot like her, with those dark eyes and hair. Sometimes it feel like Ada was looking through a mirror.

“Are you  _ sure? _ ” she asked, her voice quieter. 

“Yes, m’am.” answered Leo, respectfully, but just as quiet. He looked guilty, but there was a newfound determination in his eyes. Ada hadn’t seen that spark in his eyes for quite a while, not since the outbreak. 

“Leon won’t be happy.” Ada pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on.

“Then he can get mad at me when he wakes up.” responded Leo, trying to hide the sadness in his eyes. 

Exasperated, Ada stared at her son. There was pain in her eyes, but Ada could see the pain in Leo’s eyes too. Somewhere deep inside, Ada felt like Leo really didn’t want to leave. Leo wanted his old life back, to spend time gaming and playing with his friends freely, but that was never going to happen. His life was stolen to him, by the outbreak and now the government. He was making a big decision to leap forward, in an uncertain future, the only path he feels he can escape to. It was a web of confusing mixed emotions that was hard to pinpoint. There were so many ways this could turn out, so many ways this could go wrong...but there were many ways this may turn out for the better.

The idea of ripping Leo away from Leon bothered her. It felt awful to think about how Leon would feel if he woke up alone. But at this, she remembered what a mentor had said to her growing up. ‘Let the dead bury the dead’, he had said. While Leon was pretty close to death’s door, it didn’t feel right to chain Leo just for the off chance that Leon did wake up again. But Leon would be so upset...

Would it be right to force her son to shoulder the burden and pain to stay here, in a life where he was not happy just to appease her guilt? It didn’t feel like there was a right answer. 

Ada was lost in her thoughts for a long time. She tossed and turned these ideas in her head, just contemplating, thinking. 

“Make peace with your life here.” she finally told him. “If you’re still serious about this, then we’ll talk.”

Leo’s face brightened up, though it was still twisted in pain and guilt. He gave her a strong nod. He stood there for a moment, before looking at his mother again. “I’m sorry, Mom, to put you on the spot. I know you don’t like this-”

“You’re right.” Ada eyed her son coldly though there was a deep sorrow hidden behind her icy look. “I don’t.”

* * *

-~*~-

Getting Leo out of government custody was just a matter of how well they could both sneak out of the complex without getting noticed. It actually was scary how easy it was to slip out unnoticed. Ada had wondered if they had tagged them somehow, but it became clear that they were sure that Leo wasn’t going to escape and leave his comatose father behind. Well, they were wrong. With some effort, Ada and her son even managed to retrieve Leo’s grappling hook from where it had been kept aside as a weapon. While Leo was a bit clumsy at first sneaking out, once he had his grappling hook back, he easily kept up with Ada, even though it had been months since he'd practiced. There was an eerie thought in the back of her head. 

_ “He would make a good spy. _ ” It told her. Ada told it to shut up.

Once they both made it out of the government complex, it was even easier to make it to the rendezvous point where they were picked up by an unknown man in an unmarked car. They drove for a considerable distance, the whole world around them seemingly unaware of the big decision Ada and her son had made that night. They arrived at the docks, where the man let them out and drove away, never to be seen again. Walking quietly along the harbor, Ada spotted the boat conveniently stationed as their ticket out of here.

This would be the turning point, there was no going back from here. 

She turned to Leo, who was watching his surroundings intently. He looked a bit winded, his mind troubled and she guessed as much.

“There’s still time to turn back, Leo.”

Leo gazed at her before looking back behind him at the sleeping city. For a moment, Ada thought he had changed his mind and wanted to go back. Ada was almost relieved, but then she realized that Leo was actually saying his quietly saying his goodbyes. 

“I won’t turn back.” Leo told his mother, walking past her and towards the boat she had been looking at earlier. He stopped a few steps from it, turning back Ada. “This is my choice.”

Ada sighed, walking past her son and onto the boat, gesturing for him to follow along. “Don’t regret it.”

After making sure that their way was clear and Leo was alright, Ada took the boat and sped off into the ocean. Ada caught Leo looking back at the city again, before taking a deep breath and looking forward. 

As Ada started up the boat, she realized that it was really regrettable, how all this turned out. A mess of gray decisions that didn’t seem wrong or right. She found herself frozen with her own emotions, wondering how this was all going to turn out. 

“Mom?” 

She turned to see Leo looking at her worriedly. It was still a little dark, but she gave him a small smile and turned the boat around to start driving it away. She tried her best to hide her bitterness from him.

As she had expected, Leo became an excellent agent. He was quickly accepted by his peers there. Being her son had a reputation there and not many were willing to double cross Leo and earn her wrath. She did her best to mentor Leo in the best way she could, offering him as many tips and know-how as she could to survive in this world. Strangely enough, living here seemed almost natural for Leo. It was a bit difficult for him to adjust at first, but he picked it all up quickly. It seemed strange to realize how much at home Leo was at here compared to back when he was in government custody. 

_ “ _ He’s a natural.” someone had commented to her after a mission success. Ada looked proud, but she felt uneasy.

It had only been a matter of time before the Organization extended it’s hand to partner with Leo. It was obvious, he was her son after all. While Leo had been wary of them at first, he seemed to find them more respectable than the government. That assumption was debatable at best, but at least he seems at peace here. 

In a sort of morbid way, Ada found it ‘fun’ to work with Leo on the missions. It reminded her of the time she tag teamed with Leon back in her younger years. They worked well together, though it became obvious after a while that Leo didn’t need her assistance anymore. If anything, Ada was starting to slow him down. It felt sort of annoying, to see how far she’s fallen from her prime, but it couldn’t be helped. It was going to happen eventually. 

But then...Ada started to find herself just...tired.

Was it old age? Or was it just the stress of seeing how it all turned out? Whatever it was, Ada realized that it was getting harder and harder to carry out these missions. From the beginning, Ada knew that there would be a time where she would stop this line of work, though honestly she had expected to have been killed a long time ago. But yet here she was.

She spent days just sitting around, thinking about her life. The melancholy was sickening. It was tiring to be consumed by memories and sensations. She mulled over the same ideas and thoughts over and over again. Ada blamed her age just getting the better of her, but she was seriously getting affected by this.

Eventually, the assignments stopped coming. But Ada didn’t care less. She just spent more of that time visiting Leon. 

It was like she was done with her life. 

One day, Ada slipped into the quiet and dark hospital room, not really caring much that she was making noise. She had visited this room so many times in the past, she had a feeling that the staff knew of her visits, but they seemed content to ignore her. A younger her would have been worried about it, but right now? It was good enough. 

She pulled up one of the chairs beside Leon’s bed, sitting on it formally as she gazed upon the sleeping form of the man she loved. Sitting here like this always made her feel tired and  _ old.  _ This time more than usual. Well, she  _ was  _ old. It’s not like she could keep doing this spy thing forever. 

Even though she had so much to say to him, Ada never could find herself saying anything to Leon. The doctor frequently mentioned that people in comas were able to hear the surrounding world around them somewhat and that talking to them was a good idea. She saw Claire and Sherry often talk to Leon about things when they came to visit. Sometimes it was family members she had never met or even known about. On the rare occasions she would visit with Leo, he would talk to his father as well. But somehow, Ada felt like she didn’t deserve to say a word. 

The thought of her son made Ada’s heart twist up in knots. 

What would Leon say if he knew what path their son traveled down? It would be appropriate if Leon just got mad at her, angry and screamed even; he never got a chance to yell at her for what happened in that outbreak in Washington. Leon was a big softie and while he raised his voice, it would seem out of character to see Leon blow up. It happened sometimes, but very rarely. But if he woke up, Ada would feel relieved if he did get mad. Maybe things would make sense.

Ada leaned back in her chair, feeling her age catching up to her after all this time. Everyone always said that she aged gracefully, but right now, Ada just felt like an old woman. And in reality, she was.

“I’m sorry.” Ada suddenly spoke, feeling an overwhelming desire to confess her sins. “I never meant for this to turn out this way..” She wanted Leon to desperately hear her, but at the same time she was relieved he couldn’t answer back. How selfish. 

If given a chance, Ada would have liked to start things over. Maybe there were things she could have done differently. Perhaps if she had just decided to come to Leon’s place with Leo. While throwing away her career had sounded ridiculous at the time, Ada wondered how her life might have been if she had chosen to follow that domestic life with Leon and Leo. It may have been suffocating, it may have never worked, but maybe life wouldn’t have turned out this way.

She glanced down at Leon’s sleeping form, who continued to breath softly into those multitudes of tubs and wires. It was depressing to see such a great man reduced to such a weak state. While there had been many factors involved in Leon ending up like this, she couldn’t help feel that this was just  _ all  _ her fault. 

Ada turned to Leon, touching his hand hesitantly with her own. His fingers were cold; how long has it been since they moved? It was sickening to think about. 

She huffed, her voice bitter. “It might have been better if we had ever met.” 

Ada loved Leon. She loved Leo. She loved them  _ so _ much, Ada didn’t think she was capable of this kind of affection. This whole experience had broken her shell and exposed parts of her personality she wasn’t aware she had. But ultimately, it all felt like one big mistake. Having Leo, then leaving him with Leon, then taking him with her to rescue Leon, letting Leo turn out like her...it all weighed on her consciousness heavily. There were things that she probably should have done, or shouldn’t have done, nonetheless it was a mess. It was difficult to live with the pressing guilt, unsure whether or not she had done the right thing or not. Ada knew she would never trade away those soft memories together with this dysfunctional family she’s had, the  _ only  _ family she’s ever had, but if this was the way the story ended…

...it should have never happened. 

She knew better than to dwell on the past and mistakes. But Ada was honestly tired. There were no more assignments anymore.

There was a reason why she came to talk to Leon like this one last time. She needed to get some things off her chest before she disappeared for good. Leo wanted her to stick around longer, but living a life like this didn’t seem worth it.

Ada leaned against the bed, resting her head on the space beside Leon’s head,, holding Leon’s hand tight in her own. There was a heavy pressure behind her eyes, but Ada didn’t let herself cry. This was the life she chose. Whatever happened, whatever has happened, she had to live with it. 

“Leon.” Ada whispered his name quietly, dwelling on the fact that no one would ever hear her plight. “We should just disappear together. Just you and me.” 

She closed her eyes. 

But a subtle movement made her open her eyes again. Leon’s hand had just  _ squeezed  _ her. There was an odd feeling as Ada felt someone gazing at her from behind. She slowly sat up, turning her gaze to face Leon properly. 

A scratchy, tired voice spoke, barely above a whisper. It could have been lost in the wind. 

“Sounds great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be honest, I'm not so sure what people would think of this ending. Despite the chapters getting longer and new things getting added, Leo becoming a mercenary-spy instead of an agent and Leon getting injured was key points I wanted to emphasize; I hope it didn't feel too sudden. I had tried to hint in the previous chapter that Leo was becoming more interested in what Ada's job was. Also with things like Leo becoming proficient in a grappling hook, Ada's thing. It's sort of a personal thing, but I really enjoy parallel theming and irony in stories. 
> 
> Leo went through his whole life, sort of repeating the life Leon did while also wanting to be like Leon. He had a pretty good home life, even though Ada wasn't really there at first. He wanted to become an gov agent just like how Leon wanted to be a police officer, but plans were uprooted and they ended up changing career paths: Leon becoming an agent and Leo becoming a mercenary-spy like Ada. There was also theming (that I hope was conveyed well) that Ada always wanted Leo to become like Leon, it's even in the opening lines 'He looks just like you', but in the end, Leo was a lot more like Ada than he was Leon. Even before I had written this, I had thought about this dynamic in my head and enjoyed it, which is what motivated me to write it all. 
> 
> There is still more to this story with the 'last chapter' which will be epilogue stories that didn't really fit the story itself, but are extra bits to just tie some loose ends. Anyways, I hope that this ending isn't too bad, I've never been one for good endings for long stories xD I'm also a fan of vague open endings, which is why it ended like this. But there will be more closure in the epilogue. 
> 
> Thanks all for reading! More comments in the epilogue!


	8. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the epilogue! The 'main story' is over, and here are just some extra stories that tie up the whole thing a bit more nicely. There are three stories in different perspectives about how it all ended up and hints to what exactly happened in the ending. More comments about these stories at the end.

\-  _ Lion’s Share -  _

If someone were to ask Leo how his life turned out, he honestly wouldn’t know how to answer.

Compared to others, his life was honestly pretty exciting, a bit dramatic maybe, even though he had pretty normal beginnings. 

For most of his life, Leo lived with his father, Leon Scott Kennedy. His mother actually named Leo after him, he assumed anyway. It was sort of ridiculous how similar their names were sometimes. He was a government agent, one of the best in the business. Embarrassingly, Leo had grown up thinking that his dad was a superhero. To some people he was. He grew up on stories from Claire and Sherry about what an amazing guy Leon was. There was a woman named ‘Ashley’ who continually expressed that Leon was a ‘Knight in Shining armor’. It wasn’t really  _ anyone’s  _ surprise to see why he wanted to be just like his dad. 

The craziest part of his life would have to be his mother, Ada Wong. There wasn’t a lot Leo knew about her growing up. One thing he always knew was that she sort of just lived in a different world than he and his father did, which is why she was never there. Leo had spent quite a decent amount the time angsting over his absent mother, but after she came to visit a few times, he started to develop a strong fascination and admiration for her. He couldn’t really brag about her to his friends like he did with Leon, but Leo was satisfied with her mother coming to visit every so often.

Could you really call this a family? It was kinda hard to say.

Leo learned from a young age that ‘normal’ families had a mother, a father, and their kids. Leo’s life wasn’t really like that. It was a troubling thought growing up, but Leo grew to accept that even though his life was pretty wacky, with his government dog father and fickle mercenary-spy mother, that it was still his life. 

He was okay with that.

The first snare in Leo’s life would have to be when he had told his father about his dream to become an agent like him. Leon was quite upset with him and while he didn’t forbid the idea, it didn’t seem like he would support the dream.

It had frustrated him a lot. But it wasn’t until after the outbreak that he realized why his father didn’t want him to enter that life.

Leo had only been mildly aware of the whole biocrisis thing going on. His father mentioned it from time to time over the dinner table and he knew his father went on those month long assignments to go deal with them, but it was totally different to what he had imagined in his head. 

Inexperience made Leo believe that he was ready to deal with it. And even though now, Leo saw a lot of flaws with the way he handled the outbreak then, he still thought he did a pretty good job at the time, for his skill level anyway. After all, he had grown up practicing in the gun range and even practiced martial arts. His mother even taught him how to use a grappling hook. 

But none of that could’ve prepared him for what happened to his father.

Something had changed that day.

Back when he was still a dumb little kid, Leo remembered days where Leon just seemed down. He didn’t really want to talk about it,  _ ever,  _ but the distressing sorrowful aura he gave off was almost deafening. Claire mentioned once or twice that Leon was still troubled by what happened in Raccoon City, but even  _ she  _ tiptoed around the subject. He had a guess that the experience was scary or bad enough that Leon didn’t want to talk about it.

When Leo saw his father with those puncture wounds, bleeding out on the ground before him, it was like a switch had flicked on in his brain.

_ “Ah.”  _ he had thought to himself, chilled by what was happening around him.  _ “This must be how Dad felt.”  _

Despite his own trauma with what happened, Leo didn’t really have time to mourn. He was sort of apprehended and shipped off. He hung out for a while in the hospital until he was cleared for release, and after that. Well, Leo liked to say that he was kidnapped. 

Living in that government building was suffocating. Every single move felt questioned, Leo never felt truly alone. Not to mention the fact that a sickeningly sweet unknown agent kept talking to him about his father and the outbreak. No matter what Leo told them, they never had enough. It was grating, Leo couldn’t breathe. Was this how a government agent was? Did Leon go through this too? It didn’t help when one session, they had asked about his future and if he wanted to be an agent. That just rubbed him the wrong way, the worst way. 

Hearing that they had covered up the Washington incident was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Leon had sacrificed  _ so  _ much for them. By killing Maria, the spearhead of the outbreak was dead and it was contained. Leon deserved to be hailed as a hero, to be written in the history books. But they were just to sweep it under the rug? He was just so  _ frustrated  _ that he felt consumed by the raw desire to just escape, get out of here. For a long time, Leo thought that was impossible. 

But then he was reminded of who exactly his mother was.

Honestly, Leo felt awful asking his mother about becoming a mercenary-spy like her, to take him with her to the scary world she had tried so hard to protect him from. He had sort of noticed Ada’s declining health ever since Leon became comatose. It was slow, barely noticeable, but she just seemed to be getting paler and paler. Ada was always a good-looking person, but it certainly looked like age was finally catching up to her.. His mother wasn’t a joyful person to begin with, but she never smiled now. Leo knew that she had a lot of things on her mind, but it sort of felt difficult to ask her about it. Ada always seemed like she wanted to keep those thoughts to herself.

All in all, Leo didn’t think Ada would actually grant his wish. He was certain she was going to decline and he would’ve escaped his own way out of this stupid government house. He was definitely grateful for this experience and Leo committed himself to that life. Of course, it wasn’t easy, but Leo didn’t expect it would be. 

In a strange way, Leo felt like he belonged here. He had grown up thinking he wanted to be just like his father, but being there, sneaking around for causes you choose to take...it felt like that was a way better way to fight this whole bioterrorism thing. While he did work in the organization, Ada had taught him how to hold them at arm’s length. They were a commodity, but a dangerous one. Leo learned quickly and he was content to live this life because of it. 

Though, some part of him still wished for that old life he had left behind. When things were much simpler. When it was just him and his dad, mom visiting sometimes. It felt so long ago, the memories just felt so foreign. 

Leo sighed from where he was perched on a building. He had been tasked with swiping some data from a laboratory not far from here. After securing the data, Leo just ended up soaking in the buzz of the city around him. It’s been a while since he’s returned to the city he had called his home so long ago. Somehow, being here had brought back all the memories of his life. 

“I never thought my life would turn out this way.” he mumbled quietly to the wind. 

Taking a deep breath, Leo retrieved something he had put in his pouch and brought it out. It was that silly little stuffed lion that he’s had since he was a baby. Leon said that Ada had given it to him as a baby. It was so old and worn now, a lot of history stored in his cotton friend. Looking at those beady blank eyes made Leo think of his parents. He missed them. Maybe he should visit them soon. 

Honestly, Leo wasn’t particularly attached to it anymore. It felt stupid to try hold on to this. Turning it over in his hands, he gave another sigh and put it back in his pouch. 

Maybe he would find something to do with it later.

* * *

_ \- Those We Left Behind - _

Confused, Claire slowly creaked one the balcony door, but was instantly blasted by the cold night air, causing her to flinch in response. In that small moment, there was distinct sound followed by what sounded like grinding wires echoing nearby. Sherry poked her head around Claire, spotting a shadow disappear over the edge of the railing. It all happened so fast, it could have only been a few seconds.

“Hey!” Sherry called out, but no one responded.

Even more perplexed than before, she walked out onto the balcony, Claire soon joining her side. Whoever the shadow was was long gone. The two exchanged glances, shrugging, when something seemed to catch Claire’s eye. Brushing her graying hair out of the way, Claire picked up a small object and held it in her hands. She suddenly gasped quietly.

“Claire?” Sherry noticed the fuzzy item in her hand. “What is that?”

Looking a bit pale, Claire held up the item carefully to her companion. It took awhile to recognize what it was, it had been a long time after all. But after it clicked in her brain, Sherry felt her skin prickle, almost moved to tears. It was an object all too familiar to her, a scuffed old stuffed lion, something they both thought had been lost to time. The two stared for a moment at the toy before Sherry noticed that there was something tied around the lion’s neck. 

_ “It's me. We're okay, don’t worry. Thank you for everything.”  _ On the other side of the card was a crude drawing of a family. One father, one mother, and a small kid, with happy smiling faces.

“Is that…” Sherry looked up at Claire, who was shaking her head in disbelief.

“I thought they were…” started Claire, looking like she was tearing up. “...I should have known.”

There were so many things they wanted to ask, but it didn’t look like they would be getting the full story tonight. But at least, they knew that despite how things turned out, they were okay. They were alive. 

* * *

_ \- Another Side, Another Story - _

“Freeze!” The woman hissed to herself, taking a few more shots at the incoming zombies. 

While the shots teared through the zombie’s flesh, it barely flinched at the impact. It’s head lolled around in it’s place, hanging by just a few strands of rotten flesh. Really, a disgusting sight. The zombie was already missing most of it’s jaw from the shots she had fired a bit earlier, but it did not care. It continued lumbering forwards, stretching it’s grisly hands out to the relatively frightened cop who tried to courageously stare it down. Upon seeing that the zombie was not going to give up, she counted her shots and decided running would be much wiser than wasting more bullets.

“I can’t  _ believe _ this!” She grunted, gasping a bit for air.

She took a careful step back, checking around her before making a break for it. She ran down the alleyways, making sure to double check her path before her. She followed the twists and turns, occasionally dodging a lunging zombie, before she eventually made it back to the main street. It was still chaotic, with flaming vehicles and the like, but the fire created a barrier between her and most of the undead. 

“This is crazy.” she muttered, gripping her gun tightly and peeking around the corner to check if there was anything, or anyone, was there. “This  _ must  _ be the  _ worst  _ first day ever!”

She had only  _ just  _ started at the police department, like today! Things have been pretty normal at first, she got to meet her colleges and had her jobs. Had she known things were going to go to hell so soon, she might have done things differently. Maybe if she had, this wouldn’t have happened. It frustrated her so much, it made her want to cry out in frustration. She tucked her sweaty blonde hair behind her ear so it didn’t get in the way. The young cop knew she couldn’t stay here, the streets were  _ filled  _ with those undead. Maybe she should head back to the department...but would anyone be there anymore? Everyone was...

Gulping, the woman tried to push those memories to the back of her mind. As far as she knew, she was the last one of the force. One by one, they had all fallen. No matter how much they tried, this town was done for. One of her coworkers even took their own... _ gah _ , she can’t think about it now. She had to focus, she  _ had  _ to get out of here.

She slowly crept out of the alleyway and onto the sidewalk, making sure to tiptoe her way through the streets and around any undead still lumbering around. Thankfully, the seem much more focused on fighting and gnawing at each other than anything else. While this made her squeamish, rather them than her, she thought anyway.

Eventually she made her way to a rather familiar location. She shielded her eyes from the rain, peering through the darkness to the building before her. It was the town’s local gas station, one only ones here. She curiously looked in through the broken windows. It was dark inside and from what she can tell, abandoned. While she was apprehensive about entering the building, the weather was getting particularly nasty and her wounds were starting to get too sore for her to bear. She could take shelter here until the worst blew over, she thought. And maybe, there would be something here for her to scavenge. Would it be much to hope that her favorite soda was still in stock?

She went through the front door and looked around. Deserted, though she wasn’t sure if she was really happy or upset by that. Walked through the strewn goods on the floors, broken glass and everything. It was insane to think that just yesterday, things were normal. She had even bought things here from time to time. She stepped through the isle, inspecting the shelves to see if there was anything she could use. There was a box of bandages that she found, and she happily plucked it off the shelf. 

Just as she was going to put it in her pocket, she was startled by a sound beside her. There had been a body there, laying on the ground before, completely hidden in the dark. But somehow, her presence had awoken it. She dropped the box and pulled up her handgun, but it was too close and quickly latched onto her, gurgling in the most inhuman way.

“Get  _ off  _ me!” She shouted, feeling it’s teeth trying to sink into her padded uniform. In the struggle, she heard her gun clatter to the floor, but there was no time to grab it now.

With all her strength, she shoved it off, throwing it to the ground. She looked for the gun, but realized that it had slid underneath the shelves into the other aisle. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she scrambled away. She raced to the other aisle, looking for her gun, but was surprised by that same zombie clambering over the shelves trying to make it’s way towards her. 

She  _ had  _ to run. But she couldn’t leave her gun here, it was her only defense. There was no way in  _ hell  _ she was running and facing hell without it.

Backing away slowly, the rookie racked her brain for solutions, anything. She glanced about her surroundings, trying to see if there was anything she could use for a weapon, but the zombie just inched closer. 

Her heart dropped when she heard the gas station door open behind her, but was surprised to see another person. Like an  _ actual  _ human.  _ A living, breathing human.  _ It was sort of difficult to see who it was, since it was so dark, but she could tell that he was pointing a gun at her. 

“Hold your fire!” She ordered, feeling unnerved, but tried to exercise her authority as a cop, even if she was a rookie. Also, she  _ really _ didn’t have time to deal with this right now, there was a zombie  _ right there.  _

The mystery person only tightened his grip. “Get down!” 

Not wanting to get shot, she did just as she was told. The cop ducked out of the way and the guy shot the zombie several times in the head. There was a horrible squelch and she turned around to see that it’s head had exploded. Her eyes went wide, surprised that this person actually managed to kill one in a few shots when she had wasted entire clips just to get one on the ground. She looked back at the figure, who stepped out from the darkness, illuminated by one of the cracked windows. It was a dark-haired young man with quite silky features, quite well dressed for someone in the apocalypse. 

It was then she realized he was still aiming a gun at her.

She finally noticed her gun out of the corner of her eye and she grabbed it, pointing her gun back. “I  _ said  _ hold your fire.” She got up to her feet shakily, still aiming the gun at him. He didn’t even flinch.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. “FBI” Upon seeing this, she instinctively lowered her gun, which prompted him to lower his. “I’m investigating matters here.” 

“F-FBI?” She stuttered, relieved. The first person she’s seen in ages  _ and _ it’s another person of law enforcement. Maybe they had agents out here to try take care of things, though it seemed really odd for him to be alone. But then again, she knew very little about how things worked in the government stuff. “Sorry...I’ve just been a little jumpy lately, as you can tell.” She apologized. “Thanks for the help.”

Instead of answering, he just shrugged and looked around the store, looking disappointed when he didn’t seem to find what he was looking for. “God, where is everyone? Gone fishing?” 

Was he looking for someone? Or something? It was hard to tell by his hardened expression.

“Do you know what’s going on here?” she asked, trying to make some small talk, but also she just really,  _ really  _ wanted to know what was going on. There were so many more questions she wanted to ask, but it didn’t feel right to just blurt it all out, especially since technically an FBI agent  _ would  _ be the authority. 

“That’s classified information, sorry.” He answered this time. Taking one more look at the store, he began to turn to leave, much to her surprise. “You ought to get outta here, copper. It’s not safe.”

“ _ What _ ? Where are you going?” She couldn’t believe her eyes. He was just _ walking  _ out of here? Weren’t they going to team up or something? There were still zombies everywhere! Was this really how the government worked? This didn’t seem right...

The man didn’t answer or acknowledge her questions and just continued leaving. The cop just couldn’t believe this. When she saw him about to turn the corner, reality finally slapped her out of her daze and she ran after him, catching up quickly. 

“Hey, wait a second!” She called after him, frustrated. “We’re not done talking! You still have some explaining to do!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's comments on these stories:  
> \- 'Lion's Share' was originally supposed to be a part of the last chapter, but even Leo was definitely an important character in this story, this story was really all about Leon and Ada. It felt more appropriate to move the story to the epilogue and have it as sort of a recap of the whole story from Leo's point of view.   
> \- 'Those we Left Behind' was a longer chapter originally instead of just a short. It sort of delved into Sherry's thoughts about what happened and revealing the aftermath of what happened in Chapter 7. But it felt sort of repetitive since Lion's Share did the same thing and I ended up just making it a mini story about Claire and Sherry, who had important supporting roles in this story. It felt sad to leave them in the dark, so I wrote it out for really my peace of mind and for Leo's too, he just wanted to say thank you to them. Also just to quell the hearts of those begging me to making it a 'happy ending', yes, Leon and Ada are still alive, but they did 'disappear' together. Leo knows where they are, but won't tell.   
> \- 'Another Side, Another Story' was honestly the funnest of the stories to write. I am such a HUGE sucker for the whole 'history repeats' idea, that we are always doomed to repeat what has already happened. This was from the perspective of an unknown female rookie cop at an outbreak sometime in the future. I don't know if Ada-Leon's dynamic will repeat with the rookie and Leo, but I would imagine at least, that they struck up a strong friendship by the end of it all. I would write a side story for it, but I feel pretentious writing a story only using OCs, part of the reason why the rookie cop was unnamed in the story. 
> 
> The journey with this fanfic is now over. Honestly I wasn't expecting such a wild ride. I was only expecting just a normal posting experience, but then the whole comment fiasco happened during the stages of Ch3 and beyond, it was crazy. But those comments motivated me to try make this fanfic the best it can be. I'm not really the best storyteller or writer, a better idea-maker really, but I hope that you guys had a good time reading this and are satisfied with the way it turned out. I will probably be going back and revising some parts of the chapter for typos and whatnot, but for all intents and purposes, this story is over. 
> 
> Thank you kindly for all the support everyone has gave and for reading this story. It's finally over; I'm going to take a break before I write any other fanfic again xD I *have* been thinking about making a series with one of my other fanfics, not related to this timeline but also RE related. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the story! Thanks again for reading! Good bye!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks very much for reading this fic! I don't usually have time to respond to comments, but I appreciate all Kudos and comments all the same, so thanks in advance! Hope you enjoy the fic!


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